,,the ,,book ,,of ,,job4 ,,by ,,robert ,a4 ,,watson1 ,d4,d41 ,,author ,,of ,,judges ,,and ,,ruth1 ,,gospels ,,of ,,yesterday1 ,,etc4 ,,new ,,york ,,funk ,,wagnalls ,,company ,,lafayette ,,place #aijj ,,contents4 ,,prologue4 ,i4 ,,page ,,the ,,author ,,and ,,his ,,work #c ,,ii4 ,,the ,,opening ,,scene ,,on ,,earth #ai ,,iii4 ,,the ,,opening ,,scene ,,in ,,heaven #cc ,,iv4 ,,the ,,shadow ,,of ,,god',s ,,hand #ej ,v4 ,,the ,,dilemma ,,of ,,faith #fg ,,the ,,first ,,colloquy4 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,cry ,,from ,,the ,,depth #he ,,vii4 ,,the ,,things ,,eliphaz ,,had ,,seen #ii ,,viii4 ,,men ,,false3 ,,god ,,overbearing #aaf ,,ix4 ,,venturesome ,,theology #ace ,x4 ,,the ,,thought ,,of ,a ,,daysman #ada ,,xi4 ,a ,,fresh ,,attempt ,,to ,,convict #aed ,,xii4 ,,beyond ,,fact ,,and ,,fear ,,to ,,god #afb ,,the ,,second ,,colloquy4 ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,tradition ,,of ,a ,,pure ,,race #ahg ,,xiv4 ,,my ,,witness ,,in ,,heaven #bja ,,xv4 ,a ,,scheme ,,of ,,world-,,rule #bae ,,xvi4 ,,my ,,redeemer ,,liveth #bbb ,,xvii4 ,,ignorant ,,criticism ,,of ,,life #bdc ,,xviii4 ,,are ,,the ,,ways ,,of ,,the ,,lord ,,equal8 #bec ,,the ,,third ,,colloquy4 ,,xix4 ,,dogmatic ,,and ,,moral ,,error #bfi ,,xx4 ,,where ,,is ,,eloah8 #bha ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,dominion ,,and ,,the ,,brightness #bih ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,outskirts ,,of ,,his ,,ways #cjb ,,xxiii4 ,,choral ,,interlude #cac ,,xxiv4 ,,as ,a ,,prince ,,before ,,the ,,king #cbj ,,elihu ,,intervenes4 ,,xxv4 ,,post-,,exilic ,,wisdom #cda ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,divine ,,prerogative #cfa ,,the ,,voice ,,from ,,the ,,storm4 ,,xxvii4 ,,music ,,in ,,the ,,bounds ,,of ,,law #cha ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,reconciliation #cib ,,xxix4 ,,epilogue #dji ,,index #dac ,,prologue4 ,i4 ,,the ,,author ,,and ,,his ,,work4 ,the ,book of ,job is the first great poem of the soul in its mundane conflict1 facing the inexorable of sorrow1 change1 pain1 and death1 and feeling within itself at one and the same time weakness and energy1 the hero and the serf1 brilliant hopes1 terrible fears4 ,with entire veracity and amazing force this book represents the never-ending drama renewed in every generation and every genuine life4 ,it breaks upon us out of the old world and dim muffled centuries with all the vigour of the modern soul and that religious impetuosity which none but ,hebrews seem fully to have known4 ,looking for precursors of ,job we find a seeming spiritual burden and intensity in the ,accadian psalms1 their confessions and prayers2 but if they prepared the way for ,hebrew psalmists and for the author of ,job1 it was not by awaking the cardinal thoughts that make this book what it is1 nor by supplying an example of the dramatic order1 the fine sincerity and abounding art we find here welling up out of the desert4 ,the ,accadian psalms are fragments of a polytheistic and ceremonial world2 they spring from the soil which ,abraham abandoned that he might found a race of strong men and strike out a new clear way of life4 ,exhibiting the fear1 superstition1 and ignorance of our race1 they fall away from comparison with the marvellous later work and leave it unique among the legacies of man's genius to man's need4 ,before it a few notes of the awakening heart1 athirst for ,god1 were struck in those ,chaldan entreaties1 and more finely in ,hebrew psalm and oracle3 but after it have come in rich multiplying succession the ,lamentations of ,jeremiah1 ,ecclesiastes1 the ,apocalypse1 the ,confessions of ,augustine1 the ,divina ,commedia1 ,hamlet1 ,paradise ,regained1 the ,grace ,abounding of ,bunyan1 the ,faust of ,goethe and its progeny1 ,shelley's poems of revolt and freedom1 ,sartor ,resartus1 ,browning's ,easter ,day and ,rabbi ,ben ,ezra1 ,amiel's ,journal1 with many other writings1 down to ,mark ,rutherford and the ,story of an ,african ,farm4 ,the old tree has sent forth a hundred shoots1 and is still full of sap to our most modern sense4 ,it is a chief source of the world's penetrating and poignant literature4 ,but there is another view of the book4 ,it may well be the despair of those who desire above all things to separate letters from theology4 ,the surpassing genius of the writer is seen not in his fine calm of assurance and self-possession1 nor in the deft gathering and arranging of beautiful images1 but in his sense of elemental realities and the daring with which he launches on a painful conflict4 ,he is convinced of ,divine sovereignty1 and yet has to seek room for faith in a world shadowed and confused4 ,he is a prophet in quest of an oracle1 a poet1 a maker1 striving to find where and how the man for whom he is concerned shall sustain himself4 ,and yet1 with this paradox wrought into its very substance1 his work is richly fashioned1 a type of the highest literature1 drawing upon every region natural and supernatural1 descending into the depths of human woe1 rising to the heights of the glory of ,god1 never for one moment insensible to the beauty and sublimity of the universe4 ,it is literature with which theology is so blended that none can say1 ,here is one1 there the other4 ,the passion of that race which gave the world the idea of the soul1 which clung with growing zeal to the faith of the ,one ,eternal ,god as the fountain of life and equally of justice1 this passion in one of its rarest modes pours through the ,book of ,job like a torrent1 forcing its way towards the freedom of faith1 the harmony of intuition with the truth of things4 ,the book is all theology1 one may say1 and all humanity no less4 ,singularly liberal in spirit and awake to the various elements of our life1 it is moulded1 notwithstanding its passion1 by the artist's pleasure in perfecting form1 adding wealth of allusion and ornament to strength of thought4 ,the mind of the writer has not hastened4 ,he has taken long time to brood over his torment and seek deliverance4 ,the fire burns through the sculpture and carved framework and painted windows of his art with no loss of heat4 ,yet1 as becomes a sacred book1 all is sobered and restrained to the rhythmic flow of dramatic evolution1 and it is as if the eager soul had been chastened1 even in its fieriest endeavour1 by the regular procession of nature1 sunrise and sunset1 spring and harvest1 and by the sense of the ,eternal ,one1 ,lord of light and darkness1 life and death4 ,built where1 before it1 building had never been reared in such firmness of structure and glow of orderly art1 with such design to shelter the soul1 the work is a fresh beginning in theology as well as literature1 and those who would separate the two must show us how to separate them here1 must explain why their union in this poem is to the present moment so richly fruitful4 ,an origin it stands by reason of its subject no less than its power1 sincerity1 and freedom4 ,a phenomenon in ,hebrew thought and faith--to what age does it belong8 ,no record or reminiscence of the author is left from which the least hint of time may be gathered4 ,he1 who by his marvellous poem struck a chord of thought deep and powerful enough to vibrate still and stir the modern heart1 is uncelebrated1 nameless4 ,a traveller1 a master of his country's language1 and versed no less in foreign learning1 foremost of the men of his day whensoever it was1 he passed away as a shadow1 though he left an imperishable monument4 ,like a star of the first magnitude1 says ,dr4 ,samuel ,davidson1 the brilliant genius of the writer of ,job attracts the admiration of men as it points to the ,almighty ,ruler chastening yet loving ,his people4 ,of one whose sublime conceptions1 7mounting the height where ,jehovah is enthroned in light1 inaccessible to mortal eye71 lift him far above his time and people--who climbs the ladder of the ,eternal1 as if to open heaven--of this giant philosopher and poet we long to know something1 his habitation1 name1 appearance4 ,the very spot where his ashes rest we desire to gaze upon4 ,but in vain4 ,strange1 do we say8 ,and yet how much of her great poet1 ,shakespeare1 does ,england know8 ,it is not seldom the fate of those whose genius lifts them highest to be unrecognised by their own time4 ,as ,english history tells us more of ,leicester than of ,shakespeare1 so ,hebrew history records by preference the deeds of its great ,king ,solomon4 ,a greater than ,solomon was in ,israel1 and history knows him not4 ,no prophet who followed him and wrought sentences of his poem into lamentation or oracle1 no chronicler of the exile or the return1 preserving the names and lineage of the nobles of ,israel1 has mentioned him4 ,literary distinction1 the praise of service to his country's faith could not have been in his mind4 ,they did not exist4 ,he was content to do his work1 and leave it to the world and to ,god4 ,and yet the man lives in his poem4 ,we begin to hope that some indication of the period and circumstances in which he wrote may be found when we realise that here and there beneath the heat and eloquence of his words may be heard those undertones of personal desire and trust which once were the solemn music of a life4 ,his own1 not his hero's1 are the philosophy of the book1 the earnest search for ,god1 the sublime despondency1 the bitter anguish1 and the prophetic cry that breaks through the darkness4 ,we can see that it is vain to go back to ,mosaic or pre-,mosaic times for life and thought and words like his2 at whatever time ,job lived1 the poet-biographer deals with the perplexities of a more anxious world4 ,in the imaginative light with which he invests the past no distinct landmarks of time are to be seen4 ,the treatment is large1 general1 as if the burden of his subject carried the writer not only into the great spaces of humanity1 but into a region where the temporal faded into insignificance as compared with the spiritual4 ,and yet1 as through openings in a forest1 we have glimpses here and there1 vaguely and momentarily showing what age it was the author knew4 ,the picture is mainly of timeless patriarchal life2 but1 in the foreground or the background1 objects and events are sketched that help our inquiry4 ,his troops come together and cast up their way against me4 ,from out of the populous city men groan1 and the soul of the wounded crieth out4 ,he looseth the bond of kings1 and bindeth their loins with a girdle2 ,he leadeth priests away spoiled1 and overthroweth the mighty4444 ,he increaseth the nations and destroyeth them2 ,he spreadeth the nations abroad and bringeth them in4 ,no quiet patriarchal life in a region sparsely peopled1 where the years went slow and placid1 could have supplied these elements of the picture4 ,the writer has seen the woes of the great city in which the tide of prosperity flows over the crushed and dying4 ,he has seen1 and1 indeed1 we are almost sure has suffered in1 some national disaster like those to which he refers4 ,a ,hebrew1 not of the age after the return from exile1--for the style of his writing1 partly through the use of ,arabic and ,aramaic forms1 has more of rude vigour and spontaneity on the whole than fits so late a date1--he appears to have felt all the sorrows of his people when the conquering armies of ,assyria or of ,babylon overran their land4 ,the scheme of the book helps to fix the time of the composition4 ,a drama so elaborate could not have been produced until literature had become an art4 ,such complexity of structure as we find in ,psalm cxix4 shows that by the time of its composition much attention was paid to form4 ,it is no longer the pure lyric cry of the unlearned singer1 but the ode1 extremely artificial notwithstanding its sincerity4 ,the comparatively late date of the ,book of ,job appears in the orderly balanced plan1 not indeed so laboured as the psalm referred to1 but certainly belonging to a literary age4 ,again1 a note of time has been found by comparing the contents of ,job with ,proverbs1 ,isaiah1 ,ecclesiastes1 and other books4 ,proverbs1 chaps4 iii4 and viii41 for example1 may be contrasted with chap4 xxviii4 of the ,book of ,job4 ,placing them together we can hardly escape the conclusion that the one writer had been acquainted with the work of the other4 ,now1 in ,proverbs it is taken for granted that wisdom may easily be found3 ,happy is the man that findeth wisdom1 and the man that getteth understanding4444 ,keep sound wisdom and discretion2 so shall they be life unto thy soul and grace to thy neck4 ,the author of the panegyric has no difficulty about the ,divine rules of life4 ,again1 ,proverbs viii4 #ae1 #af3 ,by me kings reign1 and princes decree justice4 ,by me princes rule1 and nobles1 even all the judges of the earth4 ,in ,job xxviii41 however1 we find a different strain4 ,there it is3 ,where shall wisdom be found8444 ,it is hid from the eyes of all living1 and kept close from the fowls of the air2 and the conclusion is that wisdom is with ,god1 not with man4 ,of the two it seems clear that the ,book of ,job is later4 ,it is occupied with questions which make wisdom1 the interpretation of providence and the ordering of life1 exceedingly hard4 ,the writer of ,job1 with the passages in ,proverbs before him1 appears to have said to himself3 ,ah6 it is easy to praise wisdom and advise men to choose wisdom and walk in her ways4 ,but to me the secrets of existence are deep1 the purposes of ,god unfathomable4 ,he is fain1 therefore1 to put into the mouth of ,job the sorrowful cry1 ,where shall wisdom be found1 and where is the place of understanding8 ,man knoweth not the price thereof4444 ,it cannot be gotten for gold4 ,both in ,proverbs and ,job1 indeed1 the source of ,hokhma or wisdom is ascribed to the fear of ,jehovah2 but the whole contention in ,job is that man fails in the intellectual apprehension of the ways of ,god4 ,referring the earlier portions of ,proverbs to the post-,solomonic age we should place the ,book of ,job at a later date4 ,it is not within our scope to consider here all the questions raised by parallel passages and discuss the priority and originality in each case4 ,some resemblances in ,isaiah may1 however1 be briefly noticed1 because we seem on the whole to be led to the conclusion that the ,book of ,job was written between the periods of the first and second series of ,isaian oracles4 ,they are such as these4 ,in ,isaiah xix4 #e1 ,the waters shall fail from the sea1 and the river shall be wasted and become dry1--referring to the ,nile3 parallel in ,job xiv4 #aa1 ,as the waters fail from the sea1 and the river decayeth and drieth up1--referring to the passing of human life4 ,in ,isaiah xix4 #ac1 ,the princes of ,zoan are become fools1 the princes of ,noph are deceived2 they have caused ,egypt to go astray1--an oracle of specific application3 parallel in ,job xii4 #bd1 ,he taketh away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth1 and causeth them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way1--a description at large4 ,in ,isaiah xxviii4 #bi1 ,this also cometh forth from ,jehovah of ,hosts1 which is wonderful in counsel1 and excellent in wisdom3 parallel in ,job xi4 #e1 #f1 ,oh that ,god would speak1 and open ,his lips against thee2 and that ,he would show thee the secrets of wisdom1 that it is manifold in effectual working6 ,the resemblance between various parts of ,job and the writing of ,hezekiah when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness1 are sufficiently obvious1 but cannot be used in any argument of time4 ,and on the whole1 so far1 the generality and1 in the last case1 somewhat stiff elaboration of the ideas in ,job as compared with ,isaiah are almost positive proof that ,isaiah went first4 ,passing now to the fortieth and subsequent chapters of ,isaiah we find many parallels and much general similarity to the contents of our poem4 ,in ,job xxvi4 #ab1 ,he stirreth up the sea with ,his power1 and by ,his understanding ,he smiteth through ,rahab3 parallel in ,isaiah li4 #i1 #aj1 ,art thou not it that cut ,rahab in pieces1 that pierced the dragon8 ,art thou not it which dried up the sea1 the waters of the great deep8 ,in ,job ix4 #h1 ,which alone stretcheth out the heavens1 and treadeth upon the waves of the sea3 parallel in ,isaiah xl4 #bb1 ,that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain1 and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in4 ,in these and other cases the resemblance is clear1 and on the whole the simplicity and apparent originality lie with the ,book of ,job4 ,professor ,davidson claims that ,job1 called by ,god ,my servant1 resembles in many points the servant of ,jehovah in ,isaiah liii41 and the claim must be admitted4 ,but on what ground ,kuenen can affirm that the writer of ,job had the second portion of ,isaiah before him and painted his hero from it one fails to see4 ,there are many obvious differences4 ,it has now become almost clear that the book belongs either to the period 7favoured by ,ewald1 ,renan1 and others7 immediately following the captivity of the northern tribes1 or to the time of the captivity of ,judah 7fixed upon by ,dr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson1 ,professor ,cheyne1 and others74 ,we must still1 however1 seek further light by glancing at the main problem of the book1 which is to reconcile the justice of ,divine providence with the sufferings of the good1 so that man may believe in ,god even in sorest affliction4 ,we must also consider the hint of time to be found in the importance attached to personality1 the feelings and destiny of the individual and his claim on ,god4 ,taking first the problem1--while it is stated in some of the psalms and1 indeed1 is sure to have occurred to many a sufferer1 for most think themselves undeserving of great pain and affliction1--the attempt to grapple with it is first made in ,job4 ,the ,proverbs1 ,deuteronomy1 and the historical books take for granted that prosperity follows religion and obedience to ,god1 and that suffering is the punishment of disobedience4 ,the prophets also1 though they have their own view of national success1 do not dispense with it as an evidence of ,divine favour4 ,cases no doubt were before the mind of inspired writers which made any form of the theory difficult to hold4 ,but these were regarded as temporary and exceptional1 if indeed they could not be explained by the rule that ,god sends earthly prosperity to the good1 and suffering to the bad in the long run4 ,to deny this and to seek another rule was the distinction of the author of ,job1 his bold and original adventure in theology4 ,and the attempt was natural1 one may say necessary1 at a time when the ,hebrew states were suffering from those shocks of foreign invasion which threw their society1 commerce1 and politics into the direst confusion4 ,the old ideas of religion no longer sufficed4 ,overcome in war1 driven out of their own land1 they needed a faith which could sustain and cheer them in poverty and dispersion4 ,a generation having no outlook beyond captivity was under a curse from which penitence and renewed fidelity could not secure deliverance4 ,the assurance of ,god's friendship in affliction had to be sought4 ,the importance attached to personality and the destiny of the individual is on two sides a guide to the date of the book4 ,in some of the psalms1 undoubtedly belonging to an earlier period1 the personal cry is heard4 ,no longer content to be part and parcel of the class or nation1 the soul in these psalms asserts its direct claim on ,god for light and comfort and help4 ,and some of them1 the thirteenth for example1 insist passionately on the right of a believing man to a portion in ,jehovah4 ,now in the dispersion of the northern tribes or the capture of ,jerusalem this personal question would be keenly accentuated4 ,amidst the disasters of such a time those who are faithful and pious suffer along with the rebellious and idolatrous4 ,because they are faithful to ,god1 virtuous and patriotic beyond the rest1 they may indeed have more affliction and loss to endure4 ,the psalmist among his own people1 oppressed and cruelly wronged1 has the need of a personal hope forced upon him1 and feels that he must be able to say1 ,the ,lord is my shepherd4 ,yet he cannot entirely separate himself from his people4 ,when those of his own house and kindred rise against him1 still they too may claim ,jehovah as their ,god4 ,but the homeless exile1 deprived of all1 a solitary wanderer on the face of the earth1 has need to seek more earnestly for the reason of his state4 ,the nation is broken up2 and if he is to find refuge in ,god1 he must look for other hopes than hinge on national recovery4 ,it is the ,god of the whole earth he must now seek as his portion4 ,a unit not of ,israel but of humanity1 he must find a bridge over the deep chasm that seems to separate his feeble life from the ,almighty1 a chasm all the deeper that he has been plunged into sore trouble4 ,he must find assurance that the unit is not lost to ,god among the multitudes1 that the life broken and prostrate is neither forgotten nor rejected by the ,eternal ,king4 ,and this precisely corresponds with the temper of our book and the conception of ,god we find in it4 ,a man who has known ,jehovah as the ,god of ,israel seeks his justification1 cries for his individual right to ,eloah1 the ,most ,high1 the ,god of universal nature and humanity and providence4 ,now1 it has been alleged that through the ,book of ,job there runs a constant but covert reference to the troubles of the ,jewish ,church in the ,captivity1 and especially that ,job himself represents the suffering flock of ,god4 ,it is not proposed to give up entirely the individual problem1 but along with that1 superseding that1 the main question of the poem is held to be why ,judah should suffer so keenly and lie on the mezbele or ash-heap of exile4 ,with all respect to those who hold this theory one must say that it has no substantial support2 and1 on the other hand1 it seems incredible that a member of the ,southern ,kingdom 7if the writer belonged to it71 expending so much care and genius on the problem of his people's defeat and misery1 should have passed beyond his own kin for a hero1 should have set aside almost entirely the distinctive name ,jehovah1 should have forgotten the ruined temple and the desolate city to which every ,jew looked back across the desert with brimming eyes1 should have let himself appear1 even while he sought to reassure his compatriots in their faith1 as one who set no store by their cherished traditions1 their great names1 their religious institutions1 but as one whose faith was purely natural like that of ,edom4 ,among the good and true men who1 at the taking of ,jerusalem by ,nebuchadnezzar1 were left in penury1 childless and desolate1 a poet of ,judah would have found a ,jewish hero4 ,to his drama what embellishment and pathos could have been added by genius like our author's1 if he had gone back on the terrible siege and painted the ,babylonian victors in their cruelty and pride1 the misery of the exiles in the land of idolatry4 ,one cannot help believing that to this writer ,jerusalem was nothing1 that he had no interest in its temple1 no love for its ornate religious services and growing exclusiveness4 ,the suggestion of ,ewald may be accepted1 that he was a member of the ,northern ,kingdom driven from his home by the overthrow of ,samaria4 ,undeniable is the fact that his religion has more sympathy with ,teman than with ,jerusalem as it was4 ,if he belonged to the north this seems to be explained4 ,to seek help from the priesthood and worship of the temple did not occur to him4 ,israel broken up1 he has to begin afresh4 ,for it is with his own religious trouble he is occupied2 and the problem is universal4 ,against the identification of ,job with the servant of ,jehovah in ,isaiah liii4 there is one objection1 and it is fatal4 ,the author of ,job has no thought of the central idea in that passage--vicarious suffering4 ,new light would have been thrown on the whole subject if one of the friends had been made to suggest the possibility that ,job was suffering for others1 that the chastisement of their peace was laid on him4 ,had the author lived after the return from captivity and heard of this oracle1 he would surely have wrought into his poem the latest revelation of the ,divine method in helping and redeeming men4 ,the distinction of the ,book of ,job we have seen to be that it offers a new beginning in theology4 ,and it does so not only because it shifts faith in the ,divine justice to a fresh basis1 but also because it ventures on a universalism for which indeed the ,proverbs had made way1 which however stood in sharp contrast to the narrowness of the old state religion4 ,already it was admitted that others than ,hebrews might love the truth1 follow righteousness1 and share the blessings of the heavenly ,king4 ,to that broader faith1 enjoyed by the thinkers and prophets of ,israel1 if not by the priests and people1 the author of the ,book of ,job added the boldness of a more liberal inspiration4 ,he went beyond the ,hebrew family for his hero to make it clear that man1 as man1 is in direct relation to ,god4 ,the ,psalms and the ,book of ,proverbs might be read by ,israelites and the belief still retained that ,god would prosper ,israel alone1 at any rate in the end4 ,now1 the man of ,uz1 the ,arabian sheikh1 outside the sacred fraternity of the tribes1 is presented as a fearer of the true ,god--,his trusted witness and servant4 ,with the freedom of a prophet bringing a new message of the brotherhood of men our author points us beyond ,israel to the desert oasis4 ,yes3 the creed of ,hebraism had ceased to guide thought and lead the soul to strength4 ,the ,hokhma literature of ,proverbs1 which had become fashionable in ,solomon's time1 possessed no dogmatic vigour1 fell often to the level of moral platitude1 as the same kind of literature does with us1 and had little help for the soul4 ,the state religion1 on the other hand1 both in the ,northern and ,southern ,kingdoms1 was ritualistic1 again like ours1 clung to the old tribal notion1 and busied itself about the outward more than the inward1 the sacrifices rather than the heart1 as ,amos and ,isaiah clearly indicate4 ,hokhma of various kinds1 plus energetic ritualism1 was falling into practical uselessness4 ,those who held the religion as a venerable inheritance and national talisman did not base their action and hope on it out in the world4 ,they were beginning to say1 ,who knoweth what is good for man in this life--all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow8 ,for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun8 ,a new theology was certainly needed for the crisis of the time4 ,the author of the ,book of ,job found no school possessed of the secret of strength4 ,but he sought to ,god1 and inspiration came to him4 ,he found himself in the desert like ,elijah1 like others long afterwards1 ,john the ,baptist1 and especially ,saul of ,tarsus1 whose words we remember1 ,neither went ,i up to ,jerusalem1 444 but ,i went into ,arabia4 ,there he met with a religion not confined by rigid ceremony as that of the southern tribes1 not idolatrous like that of the north1 a religion elementary indeed1 but capable of development4 ,and he became its prophet4 ,he would take the wide world into council4 ,he would hear ,teman and ,shuach and ,naamah2 he would also hear the voice from the whirlwind1 and the swelling sea1 and the troubled nations1 and the eager soul4 ,it was a daring dash beyond the ramparts4 ,orthodoxy might stand aghast within its fortress4 ,he might appear a renegade in seeking tidings of ,god from the heathen1 as one might now who went from a ,christian land to learn from the ,brahman and the ,buddhist4 ,but he would go nevertheless2 and it was his wisdom4 ,he opened his mind to the sight of fact1 and reported what he found1 so that theology might be corrected and made again a handmaid of faith4 ,he is one of those ,scripture writers who vindicate the universality of the ,bible1 who show it to be a unique foundation1 and forbid the theory of a closed record or dried-up spring1 which is the error of ,bibliolatry4 ,he is a man of his age and of the world1 yet in fellowship with the ,eternal ,mind4 ,an exile1 let us suppose1 of the ,northern ,kingdom1 escaping with his life from the sword of the ,assyrian1 the author of our book has taken his way into the ,arabian wilderness and there found the friendship of some chief and a safe retreat among his people4 ,the desert has become familiar to him1 the sandy wastes and vivid oases1 the fierce storms and affluent sunshine1 the animal and vegetable life1 the patriarchal customs and legends of old times4 ,he has travelled through ,iduma1 and seen the desert tombs1 on to ,midian and its lonely peaks4 ,he has heard the roll of the ,great ,sea on the sands of the ,shefelah1 and seen the vast tide of the ,nile flowing through the verdure of the ,delta and past the pyramids of ,memphis4 ,he has wandered through the cities of ,egypt and viewed their teeming life1 turning to the use of imagination and religion all he beheld4 ,with a relish for his own language1 yet enriching it by the words and ideas of other lands1 he has practised himself in the writer's art1 and at length1 in some hour of burning memory and revived experience1 he has caught at the history of one who1 yonder in a valley of the eastern wilderness1 knew the shocks of time and pain though his heart was right with ,god2 and in the heat of his spirit the poet-exile makes the story of that life into a drama of the trial of human faith1--his own endurance and vindication1 his own sorrow and hope4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,opening ,,scene ,,on ,,earth4 ,,chap4 i4 #a-e4 ,the land of ,uz appears to have been a general name for the great ,syro-,arabian desert4 ,it is described vaguely as lying east of ,palestine and north of ,edom1 or as corresponding to the ,arabia ,deserta of classical geography1 at all events so much of it as lies north of the #cjth parallel of latitude4 ,in ,jer4 xxv4 #bj1 among those to whom the wine-cup of fury is sent1 are mentioned all the mingled people and all the kings of the land of ,uz4 ,but within this wide region1 extending from ,damascus to ,arabia1 from ,palestine to ,chalda1 it seems possible to find a more definite locality for the dwelling-place of ,job4 ,eliphaz1 one of his friends1 belonged to ,teman1 a district or city of ,iduma4 ,in ,lam4 iv4 #ba1 the writer1 who may have had the ,book of ,job before him1 says1 ,rejoice and be glad1 ,o daughter of ,edom1 that dwellest in the land of ,uz2 a passage that seems to indicate a habitable region1 not remote from the gorges of ,iduma4 ,it is necessary also to fix on a district which lay in the way of the caravans of ,sheba and ,tema1 and was exposed to the attacks of lawless bands of ,chaldans and ,sabeans4 ,at the same time there must have been a considerable population1 abundant pasturage for large flocks of camels and sheep1 and extensive tracts of arable land4 ,then1 the dwelling of ,job lay near a city at the gate of which he sat with other elders to administer justice4 ,the attention paid to details by the author of the book warrants us in expecting that all these conditions may be satisfied4 ,a tradition which places the home of ,job in the ,hauran1 the land of ,bashan of ,scripture1 some score of miles from the ,sea of ,galilee1 has been accepted by ,delitzsch4 ,a monastery1 there1 appears to have been regarded from early ,christian times as authentically connected with the name of ,job4 ,but the tradition has little value in itself1 and the locality scarcely agrees in a single particular with the various indications found in the course of the book4 ,the ,hauran does not belong to the land of ,uz4 ,it was included in the territory of ,israel4 ,nor can it by any stretch of imagination be supposed to lie in the way of wandering bands of ,sabeans1 whose home was in the centre of ,arabia4 ,but the conditions are met--one has no hesitation in saying1 fully met--in a region hitherto unidentified with the dwelling-place of ,job1 the valley or oasis of ,jauf 7,palgrave1 ,djowf71 lying in the ,north ,arabian desert about two hundred miles almost due east from the modern ,maan and the ruins of ,petra4 ,various interesting particulars regarding this valley and its inhabitants are given by ,mr4 ,c4 ,m4 ,doughty in his ,travels in ,arabia ,deserta4 ,but the best description is that by ,mr4 ,palgrave1 who1 under the guidance of ,bedawin1 visited the district in #ahfb4 ,travelling from ,maan by way of the ,wadi ,sirhan1 after a difficult and dangerous journey of thirteen days1 their track in the last stage following endless windings among low hills and stony ledges1 brought them to greener slopes and traces of tillage1 and at length entered a long and narrow pass1 whose precipitous banks shut in the view on either side4 ,after an hour of tedious marching in terrible heat1 turning a huge pile of crags1 they looked down into the ,jauf4 ,a broad1 deep valley1 descending ledge after ledge till its innermost depths are hidden from sight amid far-reaching shelves of reddish rock1 below everywhere studded with tufts of palm groves and clustering fruit trees in dark green patches1 down to the farthest end of its windings2 a large brown mass of irregular masonry crowning a central hill2 beyond1 a tall and solitary tower overlooking the opposite bank of the hollow1 and farther down1 small round turrets and flat house-roofs1 half buried amid the garden foliage1 the whole plunged in a perpendicular flood of light and heat2 such was the first aspect of the ,djowf as we now approached it from the west4 ,the principal town bears the name of the district1 and is composed of eight villages1 once distinct1 which have in process of time coalesced into one4 ,the principal quarter includes the castle1 and numbers about four hundred houses4 ,the province is a large oval depression1 of sixty or seventy miles long by ten or twelve broad1 lying between the northern desert that separates it from ,syria and ,euphrates1 and the southern ,nefood1 or sandy waste4 ,its fertility is great and is aided by irrigation1 so that the dates and other fruits produced in the ,jauf are famed throughout ,arabia4 ,the people occupy a half-way position between ,bedouins and the inhabitants of the cultivated districts4 ,their number is reckoned at about forty thousand1 and there can be no question that the valley has been a seat of population from remote antiquity4 ,to the other points of identification may be added this1 that in the ,wadi ,sirhan1 not far from the entrance to the ,jauf1 ,mr4 ,palgrave passed a poor settlement with the name ,oweysit1 or ,owsit1 which at least suggests the of the ,septuagint1 and the ,outz1 or ,uz1 of our text4 ,with population1 an ancient city1 fertile fields and ample pasturage in the middle of the desert1 the nearest habitable region to ,edom1 in the way of caravans1 generally safe from predatory tribes1 yet exposed to those from the east and south that might make long expeditions under pressure of great need1 the valley of the ,jauf appears to correspond in every important particular with the dwelling-place of the man of ,uz4 ,the question whether such a man as ,job ever lived has been variously answered1 one ,hebrew rabbi1 for example1 affirming that he was a mere parable4 ,but ,ezekiel names him along with ,noah and ,daniel1 ,james in his epistle says1 ,ye have heard of the patience of ,job2 and the opening words of this book1 ,there was a man in the land of ,uz1 are distinctly historical4 ,to know1 therefore1 that a region in the ,arabian desert corresponds so closely with the scene of ,job's life is to be reassured that a true history forms the basis of the poem4 ,the tradition with which the author began his work probably supplied the name and dwelling-place of ,job1 his wealth1 piety1 and afflictions1 including the visit of his friends1 and his restoration after sore trial from the very gate of despair to faith and prosperity4 ,the rest comes from the genius of the author of the drama4 ,this is a work of imagination based on fact4 ,and we do not proceed far till we find1 first ideal touches1 then bold flights into a region never opened to the gaze of mortal eye4 ,job is described in the third verse as one of the ,children of the ,east or ,bene-,kedem1 a vague expression denoting the settled inhabitants of the ,north ,arabian desert1 in contrast to the wandering ,bedawin and the ,sabeans of the ,south4 ,in ,genesis and ,judges they are mentioned along with the ,amalekites1 to whom they were akin4 ,but the name as used by the ,hebrews probably covered the inhabitants of a large district very little known4 ,of the ,bene-,kedem ,job is described as the greatest4 ,his riches meant power1 and in the course of the frequent alternations of life in those regions one who had enjoyed unbroken prosperity for many years would be regarded with veneration not only for his wealth1 but for what it signified--the constant favour of ,heaven4 ,he had his settlement near the city1 and was the acknowledged emeer of the valley1 taking his place at the gate as chief judge4 ,how great a chief one might become who added to his flocks and herds year by year and managed his affairs with prudence we learn from the history of ,abraham2 and to the present day1 where the patriarchal mode of living and customs continue1 as among the ,kurds of the ,persian highland1 examples of wealth in sheep and oxen1 camels and asses almost approaching that of ,job are sometimes to be met with4 ,the numbers--seven thousand sheep1 three thousand camels1 five hundred yoke of oxen1 five hundred she-asses--are probably intended simply to represent his greatness4 ,yet they are not beyond the range of possibility4 ,the family of ,job--his wife1 seven sons1 and three daughters--are about him when the story begins1 sharing his prosperity4 ,in perfect friendliness and idyllic joy the brothers and sisters spend their lives1 the shield of their father's care and religion defending them4 ,each of the sons has a day on which he entertains the others1 and at the close of the circle of festivities1 whether weekly or once a year1 there is a family sacrifice4 ,the father is solicitous lest his children1 speaking or even thinking irreverently1 may have dishonoured ,god4 ,for this reason he makes the periodic offering1 from time to time keeping on behalf of his household a day of atonement4 ,the number of the children is not necessarily ideal1 nor is the round of festivals and sacred observances4 ,yet the whole picture of happy family life and unbroken joy begins to lift the narrative into an imaginative light4 ,so fine a union of youthful enjoyment and fatherly sympathy and puritanism is seldom approached in this world4 ,the poet has kept out of his picture the shadows which must have lurked beneath the sunny surface of life4 ,it is not even suggested that the recurring sacrifices were required4 ,job's thoughtfulness is precautionary3 ,it may be that my sons have sinned1 and renounced ,god in their hearts4 ,the children are dear to him1 so dear that he would have nothing come between them and the light of heaven4 ,for the religion of ,job1 sincere and deep1 disclosing itself in these offerings to the ,most ,high1 is1 above his fatherly affection and sympathy1 the distinction with which the poet shows him invested4 ,he is a fearer of the ,one ,living and ,true ,god1 the ,supremely ,holy4 ,in the course of the drama the speeches of ,job often go back on his faithfulness to the ,most ,high2 and we can see that he served his fellow-men justly and generously because he believed in a ,just and ,generous ,god4 ,around him were worshippers of the sun and moon1 whose adoration he had been invited to share4 ,but he never joined in it1 even by kissing his hand when the splendid lights of heaven moved with seeming ,divine majesty across the sky4 ,for him there was but ,one ,god1 unseen yet ever present1 to whom1 as the ,giver of all1 he did not fail to offer thanksgiving and prayer with deepening faith4 ,in his worship of this ,god the old order of sacrifice had its place1 simple1 unceremonious4 ,head of the clan1 he was the priest by natural right1 and offered sheep or bullock that there might be atonement1 or maintenance of fellowship with the ,friendly ,power who ruled the world4 ,his religion may be called a nature religion of the finest type--reverence1 faith1 love1 freedom4 ,there is no formal doctrine beyond what is implied in the names ,eloah1 the ,lofty ,one1 ,shaddai1 ,almighty1 and in those simple customs of prayer1 confession1 and sacrifice in which all believers agreed4 ,of the law of ,moses1 the promises to ,abraham1 and those prophetical revelations by which the covenant of ,god was assured to the ,hebrew people ,job knows nothing4 ,his is a real religion1 capable of sustaining the soul of man in righteousness1 a religion that can save2 but it is a religion learned from the voices of earth and sky and sea1 and from human experience through the inspiration of the devout obedient heart4 ,the author makes no attempt to reproduce the beliefs of patriarchal times as described in ,genesis1 but with a sincere and sympathetic touch he shows what a fearer of ,god in the ,arabian desert might be4 ,job is such a man as he may have personally known4 ,in the region of ,iduma the faith of the ,most ,high was held in remarkable purity by learned men1 who formed a religious caste or school of wide reputation2 and ,teman1 the home of ,eliphaz1 appears to have been the centre of the cultus4 ,is wisdom no more in ,teman8 cries ,jeremiah4 ,is counsel perished from the prudent8 ,is their wisdom 7hokhma7 vanished8 ,and ,obadiah makes a similar reference3 ,shall ,i not in that day1 saith the ,lord1 destroy the wise men out of ,edom1 and understanding out of the mount of ,esau8 ,in ,isaiah the darkened wisdom of some time of trouble and perplexity is reflected in the burden of ,dumah1 that is1 ,iduma3 ,one calleth unto me out of ,seir1 as if with the hope of clearer light on ,divine providence1 ,watchman1 what of the night8 ,watchman1 what of the night8 ,and the answer is an oracle in irony1 almost enigma3 ,the morning cometh1 and also the night4 ,if ye will inquire1 inquire2 turn1 come4 ,not for those who dwelt in shadowed ,dumah was the clear light of ,hebrew prophecy4 ,but the wisdom or hokhma of ,edom and its understanding were nevertheless of the kind in ,proverbs and elsewhere constantly associated with true religion and represented as almost identical with it4 ,and we may feel assured that when the ,book of ,job was written there was good ground for ascribing to sages of ,teman and ,uz an elevated faith4 ,for a ,hebrew like the author of ,job to lay aside for a time the thought of his country's traditions1 the law and the prophets1 the covenant of ,sinai1 the sanctuary1 and the altar of witness1 and return in writing his poem to the primitive faith which his forefathers grasped when they renounced the idolatry of ,chalda was after all no grave abandonment of privilege4 ,the beliefs of ,teman1 sincerely held1 were better than the degenerate religion of ,israel against which ,amos testified4 ,had not that prophet even pointed the way when he cried in ,jehovah's name--,seek not ,bethel1 nor enter into ,gilgal1 and pass not to ,beersheba4444 ,seek ,him that maketh the ,pleiades and ,orion1 and turneth the shadow of death into the morning1 and maketh the day dark with night2 that calleth for the waters of the sea1 and poureth them out upon the face of the earth2 ,jehovah is ,his name8 ,israel after apostasy may have needed to begin afresh1 and to seek on the basis of the primal faith a new atonement with the ,almighty4 ,at all events there were many around1 not less the subjects of ,god and beloved by ,him1 who stood in doubt amidst the troubles of life and the ruin of earthly hopes4 ,teman and ,uz were in the dominion of the heavenly ,king4 ,to correct and confirm their faith would be to help the faith of ,israel also and give the true religion of ,god fresh power against idolatry and superstition4 ,the book which returned thus to the religion of ,teman found an honourable place in the roll of sacred ,scriptures4 ,although the canon was fixed by ,hebrews at a time when the narrowness of the post-exilic age drew toward ,pharisaism1 and the law and the temple were regarded with veneration far greater than in the time of ,solomon1 room was made for this book of broad human sympathy and free faith4 ,it is a mark at once of the wisdom of the earlier rabbis and their judgment regarding the essentials of religion4 ,to ,israel1 as ,st4 ,paul afterwards said1 belonged the adoption1 and the glory1 and the covenants1 and the giving of the law1 and the service of ,god1 and the promises4 ,but he too shows the same disposition as the author of our poem to return on the primitive and fundamental--the justification of ,abraham by his faith1 the promise made to him1 and the covenant that extended to his family3 ,they which be of faith1 the same are sons of ,abraham2 ,they which be of faith are blessed with the faithful ,abraham2 ,not through the law was the promise to ,abraham or to his seed2 ,that the blessing of ,abraham might come on the ,gentiles through ,jesus ,christ4 ,a greater than ,st4 ,paul has shown us how to use the ,old ,testament1 and we have perhaps misunderstood the intent with which our ,lord carried the minds of men back to ,abraham and ,moses and the prophets4 ,he gave a religion to the whole world4 ,was it not then the spiritual dignity1 the religious breadth of the ,israelite fathers1 their sublime certainty of ,god1 their glow and largeness of faith for which ,christ went back to them8 ,did ,he not for these find them preparers of ,his own way8 ,from the religion of ,job we pass to consider his character described in the words1 ,that man was perfect and upright1 and one that feared ,god1 and eschewed evil4 ,the use of four strong expressions1 cumulatively forming a picture of the highest possible worth and piety1 must be held to point to an ideal life4 ,the epithet perfect is applied to ,noah1 and once and again in the ,psalms to the disposition of the good4 ,generally1 however1 it refers rather to the scheme or plan by which conduct is ordered than to the fulfilment in actual life2 and a suggestive parallel may be found in the perfection or entire sanctification of modern dogma4 ,the word means complete1 built up all round so that no gaps are to be seen in the character4 ,we are asked to think of ,job as a man whose uprightness1 goodness1 and fidelity towards man were unimpeachable1 who was also towards ,god reverent1 obedient1 grateful1 wearing his religion as a white garment of unsullied virtue4 ,then is it meant that he had no infirmity of will or soul1 that in him for once humanity stood absolutely free from defect8 ,scarcely4 ,the perfect man in this sense1 with all moral excellences and without weakness1 would as little have served the purpose of the writer as one marred by any gross or deforming fault4 ,the course of the poem shows that ,job was not free from errors of temper and infirmities of will4 ,he who is proverbially known as the most patient failed in patience when the bitter cup of reproach had to be drained4 ,but undoubtedly the writer exalts the virtue of his hero to the highest range1 a plane above the actual4 ,in order to set the problem of the book in a clear light such purity of soul and earnest dutifulness had to be assumed as would by every reckoning deserve the rewards of ,god1 the ,well done1 good and faithful servant2 enter thou into the joy of thy ,lord4 ,the years of ,job have passed hitherto in unbroken prosperity4 ,he has long enjoyed the bounty of providence1 his children about him1 his increasing flocks of sheep and camels1 oxen and asses feeding in abundant pastures4 ,the stroke of bereavement has not fallen since his father and mother died in ripe old age4 ,the dreadful simoom has spared his flocks1 the wandering ,bedawin have passed them by4 ,an honoured chief1 he rules in wisdom and righteousness1 ever mindful of the ,divine hand by which he is blessed1 earning for himself the trust of the poor and the gratitude of the afflicted4 ,enjoying unbounded respect in his own country1 he is known beyond the desert to a circle of friends who admire him as a man and honour him as a servant of ,god4 ,his steps are washed with butter1 and the rock pours him out rivers of oil4 ,the lamp of ,god shines upon his head1 and by ,his light he walks through darkness4 ,his root is spread out to the waters1 and the dew lies all night upon his branch4 ,now let us judge this life from a point of view which the writer may have taken1 which at any rate it becomes us to take1 with our knowledge of what gives manhood its true dignity and perfectness4 ,obedience to ,god1 self-control and self-culture1 the observance of religious forms1 brotherliness and compassion1 uprightness and purity of life1 these are ,job's excellences4 ,but all circumstances are favourable1 his wealth makes beneficence easy and moves him to gratitude4 ,his natural disposition is towards piety and generosity2 it is pure joy to him to honour ,god and help his fellow-men4 ,the life is beautiful4 ,but imagine it as the unclouded experience of years in a world where so many are tried with suffering and bereavement1 foiled in their strenuous toil and disappointed in their dearest hopes1 and is it not evident that ,job's would tend to become a kind of dream-life1 not deep and strong1 but on the surface1 a broad stream1 clear1 glittering with the reflection of moon and stars or of the blue heaven1 but shallow1 gathering no force1 scarcely moving towards the ocean8 ,when a ,psalmist says1 ,thou hast set our iniquities before ,thee1 our secret sins in the light of ,thy countenance4 ,for all our days are passed away in ,thy wrath3 we bring our years to an end as a tale that is told1 he depicts the common experience of men1 a sad experience1 yet needful to the highest wisdom and the noblest faith4 ,no dreaming is there when the soul is met with sore rebuffs and made aware of the profound abyss that lies beneath1 when the limbs fail on the steep hills of difficult duty4 ,but a long succession of prosperous years1 immunity from disappointment1 loss1 and sorrow1 lulls the spirit to repose4 ,earnestness of heart is not called for1 and the will1 however good1 is never braced to endurance4 ,whether by subtle intention or by an instinctive sense of fitness1 the writer has painted ,job as one who with all his virtue and perfectness spent his life as in a dream and needed to be awakened4 ,he is a ,pygmalion's statue of flawless marble1 the face divinely calm and not without a trace of self-conscious remoteness from the suffering multitudes1 needing the hot blast of misfortune to bring it to life4 ,or1 let us say1 he is a new type of humanity in paradise1 an ,adam enjoying a ,garden of ,eden fenced in from every storm1 as yet undiscovered by the enemy4 ,we are to see the problem of the primitive story of ,genesis revived and wrought out afresh1 not on the old lines1 but in a way that makes it real to the race of suffering men4 ,the dream-life of ,job in his time of prosperity corresponds closely with that ignorance of good and evil which the first pair had in the garden eastward in ,eden while as yet the forbidden tree bore its fruit untouched1 undesired1 in the midst of the greenery and flowers4 ,when did the man ,job live8 ,far back in the patriarchal age1 or but a short time before the author of the book came upon his story and made it immortal8 ,we may incline to the later date1 but it is of no importance4 ,for us the interest of the book is not antiquarian but humane1 the relation of pain and affliction to the character of man1 the righteous government of ,god4 ,the life and experiences of ,job are idealised so that the question may be clearly understood2 and the writer makes not the slightest attempt to give his book the colour of remote antiquity4 ,but we cannot fail to be struck from the outset with the genius shown in the choice of a life set in the ,arabian desert4 ,for breadth of treatment1 for picturesque and poetic effect1 for the development of a drama that was to exhibit the individual soul in its need of ,god1 in the shadow of deep trouble as well as the sunshine of success1 the scenery is strikingly adapted1 far better than if it had been laid in some village of ,israel4 ,inspiration guided the writer's choice4 ,the desert alone gave scope for those splendid pictures of nature1 those noble visions of ,divine ,almightiness1 and those sudden and tremendous changes which make the movement impressive and sublime4 ,the modern analogue in literature is the philosophic novel4 ,but ,job is far more intense1 more operatic1 as ,ewald says1 and the elements are even simpler4 ,isolation is secured4 ,life is bared to its elements4 ,the personality is entangled in disaster with the least possible machinery or incident4 ,the dramatising altogether is singularly abstract4 ,and thus we are enabled to see1 as it were1 the very thought of the author1 lonely1 resolute1 appealing1 under the widespread ,arabian sky and the ,divine infinitude4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,opening ,,scene ,,in ,,heaven4 ,,chap4 i4 #f-ab4 ,with the presentation of the scene in heaven1 the genius1 the pious daring1 and fine moral insight of the writer at once appear--in one word1 his inspiration4 ,from the first we feel a sure yet deeply reverent touch1 a spirit composed in its high resolve4 ,the thinking is keen1 but entirely without strain4 ,in no mere flash did the over-world disclose itself and those decrees that shape man's destiny4 ,there is constructive imagination4 ,wherever the idea of the heavenly council was found1 whether in the vision ,micaiah narrated to ,jehoshaphat and ,ahab1 or in the great vision of ,isaiah1 it certainly was not unsought4 ,through the author's own study and art the inspiration came that made the picture what it is4 ,the calm sovereignty of ,god1 not tyrannical but most sympathetic1 is presented with simple felicity4 ,it was the distinction of ,hebrew prophets to speak of the ,almighty with a confidence which bordered on familiarity yet never lost the grace of profound reverence2 and here we find that trait of serious navet4 ,the writer ventures on the scene he paints with no consciousness of daring nor the least air of difficult endeavour1 but quietly1 as one who has the thought of the ,divine government of human affairs constantly before his mind and glories in the majestic wisdom of ,god and ,his friendliness to men4 ,in a single touch the ,king is shown1 and before ,him the hierarchies and powers of the invisible world in their responsibility to ,his rule4 ,centuries of religious culture are behind the words1 and also many years of private meditation and philosophic thought4 ,to this man1 because he gave himself to the highest discipline1 revelations came1 uplifting1 broad1 and deep4 ,in contrast to the ,almighty we have the figure of the ,adversary1 or ,satan1 depicted with sufficient clearness1 notably coherent1 representing a phase of being not imaginary but actual4 ,he is not1 as the ,satan of later times came to be1 the head of a kingdom peopled with evil spirits1 a nether world separated from the abode of the heavenly angels by a broad1 impassable gulf4 ,he has no distinctive hideousness1 nor is he painted as in any sense independent1 although the evil bent of his nature is made plain1 and he ventures to dispute the judgment of the ,most ,high4 ,this conception of the ,adversary need not be set in opposition to those which afterwards appear in ,scripture as if truth must lie entirely there or here4 ,but we cannot help contrasting the ,satan of the ,book of ,job with the grotesque1 gigantic1 awful1 or despicable fallen angels of the world's poetry4 ,not that the mark of genius is wanting in these2 but they reflect the powers of this world and the accompaniments of malignant human despotism4 ,the author of ,job1 on the contrary1 moved little by earthly state and grandeur1 whether good or evil1 solely occupied with the ,divine sovereignty1 never dreams of one who could maintain the slightest shadow of authority in opposition to ,god4 ,he cannot trifle with his idea of the ,almighty in the way of representing a rival to ,him2 nor can he degrade a subject so serious as that of human faith and well-being by painting with any touch of levity a superhuman adversary of men4 ,dante in his ,inferno attempts the portraiture of the monarch of hell3-- ,that emperor who sways ,the realm of sorrow1 at mid-breast from the ice ,stood forth2 and ,i in stature1 am more like ,a giant than the giants are to his arms4444 444 ,if he were beautiful ,as he is hideous now1 and yet did dare ,to scowl upon his ,maker1 well from him ,may all our misery flow4 ,the enormous size of this figure is matched by its hideousness2 the misery of the arch-fiend1 for all its horror1 is grotesque3 ,at six eyes he wept2 the tears ,adown three faces rolled in bloody foam4 ,passing to ,milton1 we find sublimity in his pictures of the fallen legions1 and it culminates in the vision of their king3-- ,above them all the archangel2 but his face ,deep scars of thunder had intrenched1 and care ,sat on his faded cheek1 but under brows ,of dauntless courage1 and considerate pride ,waiting revenge3 cruel his eye1 but cast ,signs of remorse and passion1 to behold ,the fellows of his crime1 444 ,millions of spirits for his fault amerced ,of heaven1 and from eternal splendours flung ,for his revolt4 ,the picture is magnificent4 ,it has1 however1 little justification from ,scripture4 ,even in the ,book of ,revelation we see a kind of contempt of the ,adversary where an angel from heaven with a great chain in his hand lays hold on the dragon1 that old serpent which is the devil1 and ,satan1 and binds him a thousand years4 ,milton has painted his ,satan largely1 as not altogether unfit to take arms against the ,omnipotent1 grown gigantic1 even sublime1 in the course of much theological speculation that had its source far back in ,chaldan and ,iranian myths4 ,perhaps1 too1 the sympathies of the poet1 playing about the fortunes of fallen royalty1 may have unconsciously coloured the vision which he saw and drew with such marvellous power1 dipping his pencil in the hues of earthquake and eclipse4 ,this splendid regal arch-fiend has no kinship with the ,satan of the ,book of ,job2 and1 on the other hand1 the ,mephistopheles of the ,faust1 although bearing an outward resemblance to him1 is1 for a quite different reason1 essentially unlike4 ,obviously ,goethe's picture of a cynical devil gaily perverting and damning a human mind is based on the ,book of ,job4 ,the ,prologue in ,heaven1 in which he first appears1 is an imitation of the passage before us4 ,but while the vulgarity and insolence of ,mephistopheles are in contrast to the demeanour of the ,adversary in presence of ,jehovah1 the real distinction lies in the kind of power ascribed to the one and the other4 ,mephistopheles is a cunning tempter4 ,he receives permission to mislead if he can1 and not only places his victim in circumstances fitted to ruin his virtue1 but plies him with arguments intended to prove that evil is good1 that to be pure is to be a fool4 ,no such power of evil suggestion is given to the ,adversary of ,job4 ,his action extends only to the outward events by which the trial of faith is brought about4 ,cynical he is and bent on working evil1 but not by low cunning and sophistry4 ,he has no access to the mind4 ,while it cannot be said that ,goethe has descended beneath the level of possibility1 since a contemporary and friend of his own1 ,schopenhauer1 might almost have sat for the portrait of ,mephistopheles1 the realism in ,job befits the age of the writer and the serious purpose he had in view4 ,faust is a work of genius and art1 and succeeds in its degree4 ,the author of ,job succeeds in a far higher sense1 by the charm of simple sincerity and the strength of ,divine inspiration1 keeping the play of supernatural agency beyond human vision1 making the ,satan a mere instrument of the ,divine purpose1 in no sense free or intellectually powerful4 ,the scene opens with a gathering of the sons of the ,elohim in presence of their ,king4 ,professor ,cheyne thinks that these are supernatural ,titanic beings who had once been at strife with ,jehovah1 but who now at stated times paid him their enforced homage2 and this he illustrates by reference to ,chap4 xxi4 #bb and ,chap4 xxv4 #b4 ,but the question in the one passage1 ,shall any teach ,god knowledge8 seeing ,he judgeth those that are high 1 the heights of heaven1 highnesses1 and the affirmation in the other1 ,he maketh peace in ,his high places1 can scarcely be held to prove the supposition4 ,the ordinary view that they are heavenly powers or angels1 willing servants not unwilling vassals of ,jehovah1 is probably correct4 ,they have come together at an appointed time to give account of their doings and to receive commands1 and among them the ,satan or ,adversary presents himself1 one distinguished from all the rest by the name he bears and the character and function it implies4 ,there is no hint that he is out of place1 that he has impudently forced his way into the audience chamber4 ,rather does it appear that he1 like the rest1 has to give his account4 ,the question ,whence comest thou8 expresses no rebuke4 ,it is addressed to the ,satan as to the others4 ,we see1 therefore1 that this ,adversary1 to whomsoever he is opposed1 is not a being excluded from communication with ,god1 engaged in a princely revolt4 ,when the reply is put into his mouth that he has been going to and fro in the earth1 and pacing up and down in it1 the impression conveyed is that a certain task of observing men1 perhaps watching for their misdeeds1 has been assumed by him4 ,he appears a spirit of restless and acute inquiry into men's lives and motives1 with a keen eye for the weaknesses of humanity and a fancy quick to imagine evil4 ,evidently we have here a personification of the doubting1 misbelieving1 misreading spirit which1 in our day1 we limit to men and call pessimism4 ,now ,koheleth gives so finished an expression to this temper that we can hardly be wrong in going back some distance of time for its growth2 and the state of ,israel before the northern captivity was a soil in which every kind of bitter seed might spring up4 ,the author of ,job may well have drawn from more than one cynic of his day when he set his mocking figure in the blaze of the celestial court4 ,satan is the pessimist4 ,he exists1 so far as his intent goes1 to find cause against man1 and therefore1 in effect1 against ,god1 as man's ,creator4 ,a shrewd thinker is this ,adversary1 but narrowed to one line and that singularly like some modern criticism of religion1 the resemblance holding in this that neither shows any feeling of responsibility4 ,the ,satan sneers away faith and virtue2 the modern countenances both1 and so has an excellent reason for pronouncing them hollow2 or he avoids both1 and is sure there is nothing but emptiness where he has not sought4 ,either way1 all is habl habalim--vanity of vanities4 ,and yet ,satan is so held and governed by the ,almighty that he can only strike where permission is given4 ,evil1 as represented by him1 is under the control of ,divine wisdom and goodness4 ,he appears as one to whom the words of ,christ ,thou shalt worship the ,lord thy ,god1 and ,him only shalt thou serve1 would bring home a sense neither of duty nor privilege1 but of a sheer necessity1 to be contested to the last4 ,nevertheless he is a vassal of the ,almighty4 ,here the touch of the author is firm and true4 ,so of pessimistic research and philosophy now4 ,we have writers who follow humanity in all its base movements and know nothing of its highest4 ,the research of ,schopenhauer and even the psychology of certain modern novelists are mischievous1 depraving1 for this reason1 if no other1 that they evaporate the ideal4 ,they promote generally that diseased egotism to which judgment and aspiration are alike unknown4 ,yet this spirit too serves where it has no dream of serving4 ,it provokes a healthy opposition1 shows a hell from which men recoil1 and creates so deadly ennui that the least gleam of faith becomes acceptable1 and even ,theosophy1 because it speaks of life1 secures the craving mind4 ,moreover1 the pessimist keeps the church a little humble1 somewhat awake to the error that may underlie its own glory and the meanness that mingles too often with its piety4 ,a result of the freedom of the human mind to question and deny1 pessimism has its place in the scheme of things4 ,hostile and often railing1 it is detestable enough1 but needs not alarm those who know that ,god takes care of ,his world4 ,the challenge which begins the action of the drama--by whom is it thrown out8 ,by the ,almighty4 ,god sets before the ,satan a good life3 ,hast thou considered ,my servant ,job8 that there is none like him in the earth1 a perfect and an upright man1 one that feareth ,god1 and escheweth evil4 ,the source of the whole movement1 then1 is a defiance of unbelief by the ,divine ,friend of men and ,lord of all4 ,there is such a thing as human virtue1 and it is the glory of ,god to be served by it1 to have ,his power and divinity reflected in man's spiritual vigour and holiness4 ,why does the ,almighty throw out the challenge and not wait for ,satan's charge8 ,simply because the trial of virtue must begin with ,god4 ,this is the first step in a series of providential dealings fraught with the most important results1 and there is singular wisdom in attributing it to ,god4 ,divine grace is to be seen thrusting back the chaotic falsehoods that darken the world of thought4 ,they exist2 they are known to ,him who rules2 and ,he does not leave humanity to contend with them unaided4 ,in their keenest trials the faithful are supported by ,his hand1 assured of victory while they fight ,his battles4 ,ignorant pride1 like that of the ,adversary1 is not slow to enter into debate even with the ,all-wise4 ,satan has the question ready which implies a lie1 for his is the voice of that scepticism which knows no reverence4 ,but the entire action of the book is in the line of establishing faith and hope4 ,the ,adversary is challenged to do his worst2 and man1 as ,god's champion1 will have to do his best1--the world and angels looking on4 ,and this thought of a ,divine purpose to confound the falsehoods of scepticism answers another inquiry which may readily occur4 ,from the first the ,almighty knows and asserts the virtue of ,his servant1--that he is one who fears ,god and eschews evil4 ,but why1 then1 does ,he condescend to ask of ,satan1 ,hast thou considered ,my servant ,job8 ,since ,he has already searched the heart of ,job and found it faithful1 ,he does not need for ,his own satisfaction to hear ,satan's opinion4 ,nor are we to suppose that the expression of this ,adversary's doubt can have any real importance4 ,but if we take the ,satan as representing all those who depreciate faith and undermine virtue1 the challenge is explained4 ,satan is of no account in himself4 ,he will go on cavilling and suspecting4 ,but for the sake of the race of men1 its emancipation from the miserable suspicions that prey on the heart1 the question is proposed4 ,the drama has its prophetical design2 it embodies a revelation2 and in this lies the value of all that is represented4 ,satan1 we shall find1 disappears1 and thereafter the human reason is alone addressed1 solely considered4 ,we pass from scene to scene1 from controversy to controversy1 and the great problem of man's virtue1 which also involves the honour of ,god ,himself1 is wrought out that our despondency and fear may be cured2 that we may never say with ,koheleth1 ,vanity of vanities1 all is vanity4 ,to the question of the ,almighty1 ,satan replies by another3 ,doth ,job fear ,god for nought8 ,with a certain air of fairness he points to the extraordinary felicity enjoyed by the man4 ,hast ,thou not made an hedge about him1 and about his house1 and about all that he hath1 on every side8 ,thou hast blessed the work of his hands1 and his substance is increased in the land4 ,it is a thought naturally arising in the mind that very prosperous people have all on the side of their virtue1 and may be less pure and faithful than they seem4 ,satan adopts this thought1 which is not only blameless1 but suggested by what we see of ,god's government4 ,he is base and captious in using it1 and turns it with a sneer4 ,yet on the surface he only hints that ,god should employ ,his own test1 and so vindicate ,his action in making this man so prosperous4 ,for why should ,job show anything but gratitude towards ,god when all is done for him that heart can desire8 ,the favourites of kings1 indeed1 who are loaded with titles and wealth1 sometimes despise their benefactors1 and1 being raised to high places1 grow ambitious of one still higher1 that of royalty itself4 ,the pampered servant becomes an arrogant rival1 a leader of revolt4 ,thus too great bounty is often met with ingratitude4 ,it does not1 however1 suit the ,adversary to suggest that pride and rebellion of this kind have begun to show themselves in ,job1 or will show themselves4 ,he has no ground for such an accusation1 no hope of proving it true4 ,he confines himself1 therefore1 to a simpler charge1 and in making it implies that he is only judging this man on general principles and pointing to what is sure to happen in the case4 ,yes2 he knows men4 ,they are selfish at bottom4 ,their religion is selfishness4 ,the blameless human fear is that much may be due to favourable position4 ,the ,satan is sure that all is due to it4 ,now1 the singular thing here is the fact that the ,adversary's accusation turns on ,job's enjoyment of that outward felicity which the ,hebrews were constantly desiring and hoping for as a reward of obedience to ,god4 ,the writer comes thus at once to show the peril of the belief which had corrupted the popular religion of his time1 which may even have been his own error once1 that abundant harvests1 safety from enemies1 freedom from pestilence1 such material prosperity as many in ,israel had before the great disasters1 were to be regarded as the evidence of accepted piety4 ,now that the crash has fallen and the tribes are scattered1 those left in ,palestine and those carried into exile alike sunk in poverty and trouble1 the author is pointing out what he himself has come to see1 that ,israel's conception of religion had hitherto admitted and may even have gendered a terrible mistake4 ,piety might be largely selfishness--was often mingled with it4 ,the message of the author to his countrymen and to the world is that a nobler mind must replace the old desire for happiness and plenty1 a better faith the old trust that ,god would fill the hands that served ,him well4 ,he teaches that1 whatever may come1 though trouble after trouble may fall1 the great true ,friend is to be adored for what ,he is1 obeyed and loved though the way lies through storm and gloom4 ,striking is the thought that1 while the prophets ,amos and ,hosea were fiercely or plaintively assailing the luxury of ,israel and the lives of the nobles1 among those very men who excited their holy wrath may have been the author of the ,book of ,job4 ,dr4 ,robertson ,smith has shown that from the gala days of ,jeroboam ,,ii4 to the fall of ,samaria there were only some thirty years4 ,one who wrote after the ,captivity as an old man may therefore have been in the flush of youth when ,amos prophesied1 may have been one of the rich ,israelites who lay upon beds of ivory and stretched themselves upon their couches1 and ate lambs out of the flock and calves out of the midst of the stall1 for whose gain the peasant and the slave were oppressed by stewards and officers4 ,he may have been one of those on whom the blindness of prosperity had fallen so that the storm-cloud from the east with its vivid lightning was not seen1 who held it their safety to bring sacrifices every morning and tithes every three days1 to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which was leavened1 and proclaim freewill offerings and publish them 7,amos iv4 #d1 #e74 ,the mere possibility that the author of ,job may have had this very time of prosperity and religious security in his own past and heard ,hosea's trumpet blast of doom is very suggestive1 for if so he has learned how grandly right the prophets were as messengers of ,god4 ,by the way of personal sorrow and disaster he has passed to the better faith he urges on the world4 ,he sees what even the prophets did not fully comprehend1 that desolation might be gain1 that in the most sterile wilderness of life the purest light of religion might shine on the soul1 while the tongue was parched with fatal thirst and the eye glazed with the film of death4 ,the prophets looked always beyond the shadows of disaster to a new and better day when the return of a penitent people to ,jehovah should be followed by a restoration of the blessings they had forfeited--fruitful fields and vineyards1 busy and populous cities1 a general distribution of comfort if not of wealth4 ,even ,amos and ,hosea had no clear vision of the prophetic hope the first exile was to yield out of its darkness to ,israel and the world4 ,the question1 then1 ,doth ,job fear ,god for nought8 sending a flash of penetrating light back on ,israel's history1 and especially on the glowing pictures of prosperity in ,solomon's time1 compelling all to look to the foundation and motives of their faith1 marks a most important era in ,hebrew thought4 ,it is1 we may say1 the first note of a piercing strain which thrills on to the present time4 ,taking rise here1 the spirit of inquiry and self-examination has already sifted religious belief and separated much of the chaff from the wheat4 ,yet not all4 ,the comfort and hope of believers are not yet lifted above the reach of ,satan's javelin4 ,while salvation is thought of mainly as self-enjoyment1 can we say that the purity of religion is assured8 ,when happiness is promised as the result of faith1 whether happiness now1 or hereafter in heavenly glory1 the whole fabric of religion is built on a foundation insecure1 because it may be apart from truth1 holiness1 and virtue4 ,it does not avail to say that holiness is happiness1 and so introduce personal craving under cover of the finest spiritual idea4 ,to grant that happiness is in any sense the distinctive issue of faith and faithfulness1 to keep happiness in view in submitting to the restraints and bearing the burdens of religion1 is to build the highest and best on the shifting sand of personal taste and craving4 ,make happiness that for which the believer is to endure and strive1 allow the sense of personal comfort and immunity from change to enter into his picture of the reward he may expect1 and the question returns1 ,doth this man serve ,god for nought8 ,life is not happiness1 and the gift of ,god is everlasting life4 ,only when we keep to this supreme word in the teaching of ,christ1 and seek the fulness and liberty and purity of life1 apart from that happiness which is at bottom the satisfaction of predominant desires1 shall we escape from the constantly recurring doubt that threatens to undermine and destroy our faith4 ,if we look further1 we find that the very error which has so long impoverished religion prevails in philanthropy and politics1 prevails there at the present time to an alarming extent4 ,the favourite aim of social meliorists is to secure happiness for all4 ,while life is the main thing1 everywhere and always1 strength and breadth and nobleness of life1 their dream is to make the warfare and service of man upon the earth so easy that he shall have no need for earnest personal endeavour4 ,he is to serve for happiness1 and have no service to do that may even in the time of his probation interfere with happiness4 ,the pity bestowed on those who toil and endure in great cities and on bleak hillsides is that they fail of happiness4 ,persons who have no conception that vigour and endurance are spiritually profitable1 and others who once knew but have forgotten the benefits of vigour and the gains of endurance1 would undo the very order and discipline of ,god4 ,are human beings to be encouraged to seek happiness1 taught to doubt ,god because they have little pleasure1 given to understand that those who enjoy have the best of the universe1 and that they must be lifted up to this level or lose all8 ,then the sweeping condemnation will hang over the world that it is following a new god and has said farewell to the stern ,lord of ,providence4 ,much may be justly said in condemnation of the jealous1 critical spirit of the ,adversary4 ,yet it remains true that his criticism expresses what would be a fair charge against men who passed this stage of existence without full trial4 ,and the ,almighty is represented as confirming this when ,he puts ,job into the hands of ,satan4 ,he has challenged the ,adversary1 opening the question of man's fidelity and sincerity4 ,he knows what will result4 ,it is not the will of some eternal ,satan that is the motive1 but the will of ,god4 ,the ,adversary's scornful question is woven into ,god's wise ordinance1 and made to subserve a purpose which completely transcends the base hope involved in it4 ,the life of ,job has not yet had the difficult and strenuous probation necessary to assured faith1 or rather to the consciousness of a faith immovably rooted in ,god4 ,it would be utterly inconsistent with the ,divine wisdom to suppose ,god led on and beguiled by the sneer of ,his own creature to do what was needless or unfair1 or indeed in any sense opposed to ,his own plan for ,his creation4 ,and we shall find that throughout the book it is assumed by ,job1 implied by the author1 that what is done is really the doing of ,god ,himself4 ,the ,satan of this ,divine poem remains altogether subsidiary as an agent4 ,he may propose1 but ,god disposes4 ,he may pride himself on the keenness of his intellect2 but wisdom1 compared to which his subtlety is mere blundering1 orders the movement of events for good and holy ends4 ,the ,adversary makes his proposal3 ,put forth now ,thine hand1 and touch all that he hath1 and he will bid ,thee farewell4 ,he does not propose to make use of sensual temptation4 ,the only method of trial he ventures to suggest is deprivation of the prosperity for which he believes ,job has served ,god4 ,he takes on him to indicate what the ,almighty may do1 acknowledging that the ,divine power1 and not his1 must bring into ,job's life those losses and troubles that are to test his faith4 ,after all some may ask1 ,is not ,satan endeavouring to tempt the ,almighty8 ,and if it were true that the prosperous condition of ,job1 or any man1 implies ,god's entire satisfaction with his faith and dutifulness and with his character as a man1 if1 further1 it must be taken as true that sorrow and loss are evil1 then this proposal of the ,satan is a temptation4 ,it is not so in reality1 for ,god cannot be tempted to evil4 ,no creature could approach ,his holiness with a temptation4 ,but ,satan's intention is to move ,god4 ,he considers success and happiness to be intrinsically good1 and poverty and bereavement to be intrinsically evil4 ,that is to say1 we have here the spirit of unfaith endeavouring to destroy ,god as well as man4 ,for the sake of truth professedly1 for his own pride of will really1 he would arrest the righteousness and grace of the ,divine4 ,he would unmake ,god and orphan man4 ,the scheme is futile of course4 ,god can allow his proposal1 and be no less the ,infinitely generous1 wise1 and true4 ,the ,satan shall have his desire2 but not a shadow shall fall on the ineffable glory4 ,at this point1 however1 we must pause4 ,the question that has just arisen can only be answered after a survey of human life in its relation to ,god1 and especially after an examination of the meaning of the term evil as applied to our experiences4 ,we have certain clear principles to begin with3 that ,god cannot be tempted with evil1 and ,he ,himself tempteth no man2 that all ,god does must show not less beneficence1 not less love1 but more as the days go by4 ,these principles will have to be vindicated when we proceed to consider the losses1 what may be called the disasters that follow each other in quick succession and threaten to crush the life they try4 ,meanwhile1 casting a glance at those happy dwellings in the land of ,uz1 we see all going on as before1 no mind darkened by the shadow that is gathering1 or in the least aware of the controversy in heaven so full of moment to the family circle4 ,the pathetic ignorance1 the blessed ignorance in which a man may live hangs upon the picture4 ,the cheerful bustle of the homestead goes on1 the feasts and sacrifices1 diligent labour rewarded with the produce of fields1 the wine and oil of vineyards and olive gardens1 fleeces of the flock and milk of the kine4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,shadow ,,of ,,god',s ,,hand4 ,,chap4 i4 #ac-bb4 ,coming now to the sudden and terrible changes which are to prove the faithfulness of the servant of ,god1 we must not fail to observe that in the development of the drama the trial of ,job personally is the sole consideration4 ,no account is taken of the character of those who1 being connected with his fortunes and happiness1 are now to be swept away that he may suffer4 ,to trace their history and vindicate ,divine righteousness in reference to each of them is not within the scope of the poem4 ,a typical man is taken as hero1 and we may say the discussion covers the fate of all who suffer1 although attention is fixed on him alone4 ,the writer is dealing with a story of patriarchal life1 and himself is touched with the ,semitic way of thinking4 ,a certain disregard of the subordinate human characters must not be reckoned strange4 ,his thoughts1 far-reaching as they are1 run in a channel very different from ours4 ,the world of his book is that of family and clan ideas4 ,the author saw more than any man of his time2 but he could not see all that engages modern speculation4 ,besides1 the glory of ,god is the dominant idea of the poem2 not men's right to joy1 or peace1 or even life2 but ,god's right to be wholly ,himself and greatly true4 ,in the light of this high thought we must be content to have the story of one soul traced with such fulness as might be compassed1 the others left practically untouched4 ,if the sufferings of the man whom ,god approves can be explained in harmony with the glory of ,divine justice1 then the sudden calamities that fall upon his servants and children will also be explained4 ,for1 although death is in a sense an ultimate thing1 and loss and affliction1 however great1 do not mean so much as death2 yet1 on the other hand1 to die is the common lot1 and the quick stroke appears merciful in comparison with ,job's dreadful experiences4 ,those who are killed by lightning or by the sword do but swiftly and without protracted pain fall into the hands of ,god4 ,we need not conclude that the writer means us to regard the sons and daughters of ,job and his servants as mere chattels1 like the camels and sheep1 although the people of the desert would have so regarded them4 ,but the main question presses2 the range of the discussion must be limited2 and the tradition which forms the basis of the poem is followed by the author whenever it supplies the elements of his inquiry4 ,we have entirely refused the supposition that the ,almighty forgot ,his righteousness and grace in putting the wealth and happiness of ,job into the hands of ,satan4 ,the trials we now see falling one after the other are not sent because the ,adversary has suggested them1 but because it is right and wise1 for the glory of ,god and for the perfecting of faith1 that ,job should suffer them4 ,what is ,god's doing is not in this case nor in any case evil4 ,he cannot wrong ,his servant that glory may come to ,himself4 ,and just here arises a problem which enters into all religious thought1 the wrong solution of which depraves many a philosophy1 while the right understanding of it sheds a flood of light on our life in this world4 ,a thousand tongues1 ,christian1 non-,christian1 and neo-,christian1 affirm that life is for enjoyment4 ,what gives enjoyment is declared to be good1 what gives most enjoyment is reckoned best1 and all that makes for pain and suffering is held to be evil4 ,it is allowed that pain endured now may bring pleasure hereafter1 and that for the sake of future gain a little discomfort may be chosen4 ,but it is evil nevertheless4 ,one doing his best for men would be expected to give them happiness at once and1 throughout life1 as much of it as possible4 ,if he inflicted pain in order to enhance pleasure by and by1 he would have to do so within the strictest limits4 ,whatever reduces the strength of the body1 the capacity of the body for enjoyment and the delight of the mind accompanying the body's vigour1 is declared bad1 and to do anything which has this effect is to do evil or wrong4 ,such is the ethic of the philosophy finally and powerfully stated by ,mr4 ,spencer4 ,it has penetrated as widely as he could wish2 it underlies volumes of ,christian sermons and semi-,christian schemes4 ,if it be true1 then the ,almighty of the ,book of ,job1 bringing affliction1 sorrow1 and pain upon ,his servant1 is a cruel enemy of man1 to be hated1 not revered4 ,this matter needs to be considered at some length4 ,the notion that pain is evil1 that he who suffers is placed at moral disadvantage1 appears very plainly in the old belief that those conditions and surroundings of our life which minister to enjoyment are the proofs of the goodness of ,god on which reliance must be placed so far as nature and providence testify of ,him4 ,pain and sorrow1 it was held1 need to be accounted for by human sin or otherwise2 but we know that ,god is good because there is enjoyment in the life ,he gives4 ,paley1 for example1 says that the proof of the ,divine goodness rests upon contrivances everywhere to be seen for the purpose of giving us pleasure4 ,he tells us that1 when ,god created the human species1 either ,he wished them happiness1 or ,he wished them misery1 or ,he was indifferent and unconcerned about either2 and he goes on to prove that it must be our happiness ,he desired1 for1 otherwise1 wishing our misery1 ,he might have made everything we tasted1 bitter2 everything we saw1 loathsome2 everything we touched1 a sting2 every smell1 a stench2 and every sound1 a discord3 while1 if ,he had been indifferent about our happiness we must impute all enjoyment we have to our good fortune1 that is1 to bare chance1 an impossible supposition4 ,paley's further survey of life leads to the conclusion that ,god has it as ,his chief aim to make ,his creatures happy and1 in the circumstances1 does the best ,he can for them1 better far than they are commonly disposed to think4 ,the agreement of this position with that of ,spencer lies in the presupposition that goodness can be proved only by arrangements for giving pleasure4 ,if ,god is good for this reason1 what follows when ,he appoints pain1 especially pain that brings no enjoyment in the long run8 ,either ,he is not altogether good or ,he is not all-powerful4 ,the author of the ,book of ,job does not enter into the problem of pain and affliction with the same deliberate attempt to exhaust the subject as ,paley has made2 but he has the problem before him4 ,and in considering the trial of ,job as an example of the suffering and sorrow of man in this world of change1 we find a strong ray of light thrown upon the darkness4 ,the picture is a ,rembrandt2 and where the radiance falls all is sharp and bright4 ,but the shadows are deep2 and we must seek1 if possible1 to make out what lies in those shadows4 ,we shall not understand the ,book of ,job1 nor form a just opinion of the author's inspiration1 nor shall we understand the ,bible as a whole1 unless we reach a point of view clear of the mistakes that stultify the reasoning of ,paley and plunge the mind of ,spencer1 who refuses to be called a materialist1 into the utter darkness of materialism4 99 99 99 99 99 ,now1 as to enjoyment1 we have the capacity for it1 and it flows to us from many external objects as well as from the operation of our own minds and the putting forth of energy4 ,it is in the scheme of things ordained by ,god that ,his creatures shall enjoy4 ,on the other hand1 trouble1 sorrow1 loss1 bodily and mental pain1 are also in the scheme of things4 ,they are provided for in numberless ways--in the play of natural forces causing injuries1 dangers from which we cannot escape2 in the limitations of our power2 in the antagonisms and disappointments of existence2 in disease and death4 ,they are provided for by the very laws that bring pleasure1 made inevitable under the same ,divine ordinance4 ,some say it detracts from the goodness of ,god to admit that as ,he appoints means of enjoyment so ,he also provides for pain and sorrow and makes these inseparable from life4 ,and this opinion runs into the extreme dogmatic assertion that good1 by which we are to understand happiness1 ,shall fall ,at last far off1 at last to all4 ,many hold this to be necessary to the vindication of ,god's goodness4 ,but the source of the whole confusion lies here1 that we prejudge the question by calling pain evil4 ,the light-giving truth for modern perplexity is that pain and loss are not evil1 are in no sense evil4 ,because we desire happiness and dislike pain1 we must not conclude that pain is bad and that1 when any one suffers1 it is because he or another has done wrong4 ,there is the mistake that vitiates theological thought1 making men run to the extreme either of denying ,god altogether because there is suffering in the world1 or of framing a rose-water eschatology4 ,pain is one thing1 moral evil is quite another thing4 ,he who suffers is not necessarily a wrong-doer2 and when1 through the laws of nature1 ,god inflicts pain1 there is no evil nor anything approaching wrong4 ,in ,scripture1 indeed1 pain and evil are apparently identified4 ,shall we receive good at the hands of ,god1 and shall we not receive evil8 ,is there evil in the city1 and the ,lord hath not done it8 ,thus saith the ,lord1 ,behold ,i will bring upon ,judah1 and upon all the inhabitants of ,jerusalem1 all the evil that ,i have pronounced against them4 ,in these and many other passages the very thing seems to be meant which has just been denied1 for evil and suffering appear to be made identical4 ,but human language is not a perfect instrument of thought1 any more than thought is a perfect channel of truth4 ,one word has to do duty in different senses4 ,moral evil1 wrongness1 on the one hand2 bodily pain1 the misery of loss and defeat1 on the other hand--both are represented by one ,hebrew word --root meaning1 displeased4 ,in the following passages1 where moral evil is clearly meant1 it occurs just as in those previously quoted3 ,wash you1 make you clean1 cease to do evil1 learn to do well2 ,the face of the ,lord is against them that do evil4 ,the different meanings which one ,hebrew word may bear are not generally confused in translation4 ,in this case1 however1 the confusion has entered into the most modern language4 ,from a highly esteemed thinker the following sentence may be quoted by way of example3 ,the other religions did not feel evil like ,israel2 it did not stand in such complete antagonism to their idea of the ,supreme1 the ,creator and ,sovereign of man1 nor in such absolute contradiction to their notion of what ought to be2 and so they either reconciled themselves as best they could to the evil that was necessary1 or invented means by which men could escape from it by escaping from existence4 ,the singular misapprehension of ,divine providence which underlies a statement like this can only be got rid of by recognising that enjoyment and suffering are not the good and evil of life1 that both of them stand quite apart from what is intrinsically good and bad in a moral sense1 and that they are simply means to an end in the providence of ,god4 ,it is not difficult1 of course1 to see how the idea of pain and the idea of moral evil have been linked together4 ,it is by the thought that suffering is punishment for evil done2 and that the suffering is therefore itself evil4 ,pain was simply penalty inflicted by an offended heavenly power4 ,the evil of a man's doings came back to him1 made itself felt in his suffering4 ,this was the explanation of all that was unpleasant1 disastrous and vexing in the lot of man4 ,he would enjoy always1 it was conceived1 if wrong-doing or failure in duty to the higher powers did not kindle divine anger against him4 ,true1 the wrong-doing might not be his own4 ,the son might suffer for the parent's fault4 ,iniquity might be remembered to children's children and fall terribly on those who had not themselves transgressed4 ,the fates pursued the descendants of an impious man4 ,but wrong done somewhere1 rebellion of some one against a divinity1 was always the antecedent of pain and sorrow and disaster4 ,and as the other religions thought1 so1 in this matter1 did that of ,israel4 ,to the ,hebrew the deep conviction of this1 as ,dr4 ,fairbairn has said1 made poverty and disease peculiarly abhorrent4 ,in ,psalm lxxxix4 the prosperity of ,david is depicted1 and ,jehovah speaks of the covenant that must be kept3 ,if his children forsake my law1 and walk not in my judgments2 444 then will ,i visit their transgression with the rod1 and their iniquity with stripes4 ,the trouble has fallen1 and out of the depth of it1 attributing to past sin all defeat and disaster from which the people suffer--the breaking down of the hedges1 curtailment of the vigour of youth1 overthrow in war--the psalmist cries1 ,how long1 ,o ,lord1 wilt ,thou hide ,thyself for ever8 ,how long shall ,thy wrath burn like fire8 ,o remember how short my time is3 for what vanity hast ,thou created all the children of men8 ,there is here no thought that anything painful or afflictive could manifest the fatherhood of ,god2 it must proceed from ,his anger1 and force the mind back upon the memory of sin1 some transgression that has caused the ,almighty to suspend ,his kindness for a time4 ,here it was the author of ,job found the thought of his people4 ,with this he had to harmonise the other beliefs--peculiarly theirs--that the lovingkindness of the ,lord is over all ,his works1 that ,god who is supremely good cannot inflict moral injury on any of ,his covenanted servants4 ,and the difficulty he felt survives4 ,the questions are still urged3 ,is not pain bound up with wrong-doing8 ,is not suffering the mark of ,god's displeasure8 ,are they not evil1 therefore8 ,and1 on the other hand1 ,is not enjoyment appointed to him who does right8 ,does not the whole scheme of ,divine providence1 as the ,bible sets it forth1 including the prospect it opens into the eternal future1 associate happiness with well-doing and pain with evil-doing8 ,we desire enjoyment1 and cannot help desiring it4 ,we dislike pain1 disease1 and all that limits our capacity for pleasure4 ,is it not in accordance with this that ,christ appears as the ,giver of light and peace and joy to the race of men8 ,these questions look difficult enough4 ,let us attempt to answer them4 ,pleasure and pain1 happiness and suffering1 are elements of creaturely experience appointed by ,god4 ,the right use of them makes life1 the wrong use of them mars it4 ,they are ordained1 all of them in equal degree1 to a good end2 for all that ,god does is done in perfect love as well as in perfect justice4 ,it is no more wonderful that a good man should suffer than that a bad man should suffer2 for the good man1 the man who believes in ,god and therefore in goodness1 making a right use of suffering1 will gain by it in the true sense2 he will reach a deeper and nobler life4 ,it is no more wonderful that a bad man1 one who disbelieves in ,god and therefore in goodness1 should be happy than that a good man should be happy1 the happiness being ,god's appointed means for both to reach a higher life4 ,the main element of this higher life is vigour1 but not of the body4 ,the ,divine purpose is spiritual evolution4 ,that gratification of the sensuous side of our nature for which physical health and a well-knit organism are indispensable--paramount in the pleasure-philosophy--is not neglected1 but is made subordinate in the ,divine culture of life4 ,the grace of ,god aims at the life of the spirit--power to love1 to follow righteousness1 to dare for justice' sake1 to seek and grasp the true1 to sympathise with men and bear with them1 to bless them that curse1 to suffer and be strong4 ,to promote this vitality all ,god appoints is fitted--pain as well as pleasure1 adversity as well as prosperity1 sorrow as well as joy1 defeat as well as success4 ,we wonder that suffering is so often the result of imprudence4 ,on the ordinary theory the fact is inexplicable1 for imprudence has no dark colour of ethical faultiness4 ,he who by an error of judgment plunges himself and his family into what appears irretrievable disaster1 may1 by all reckoning1 be almost blameless in character4 ,if suffering is held to be penal1 no reference to the general sin of humanity will account for the result4 ,but the reason is plain4 ,the suffering is disciplinary4 ,the nobler life at which ,divine providence aims must be sagacious no less than pure1 guided by sound reason no less than right feeling4 ,and if it is asked how from this point of view we are to find the punishment of sin1 the answer is that happiness as well as suffering is punishment to him whose sin and the unbelief that accompanies it pervert his view of truth1 and blind him to the spiritual life and the will of ,god4 ,the pleasures of a wrong-doer who persistently denies obligation to ,divine authority and refuses obedience to the ,divine law are no gain1 but loss4 ,they dissipate and attenuate his life4 ,his sensuous or sensual enjoyment1 his delight in selfish triumph and gratified ambition are real1 give at the time quite as much happiness as the good man has in his obedience and virtue1 perhaps a great deal more4 ,but they are penal and retributive nevertheless2 and the conviction that they are so becomes clear to the man whenever the light of truth is flashed upon his spiritual state4 ,we read ,dante's pictures of the ,inferno1 and shudder at the dreadful scenes with which he has filled the descending circles of woe4 ,he has omitted one that would have been the most striking of all1--unless indeed an approach to it is to be found in the episode of ,paolo and ,francesca1--the picture of souls self-doomed to seek happiness and to enjoy1 on whose life the keen light of eternity shines1 revealing the gradual wasting away of existence1 the certain degeneration to which they are condemned4 ,on the other hand1 the pains and disasters which fall to the lot of evil men1 intended for their correction1 if in perversity or in blindness they are misunderstood1 again become punishment2 for they1 too1 dissipate and attenuate life4 ,the real good of existence slips away while the mind is intent on the mere pain or vexation and how it is to be got rid of4 ,in ,job we find a purpose to reconcile affliction with the just government of ,god4 ,the troubles into which the believing man is brought urge him to think more deeply than he has ever thought1 become the means of that intellectual and moral education which lies in discovery of the will and character of ,god4 ,they also bring him by this way into deeper humility1 a fine tenderness of spiritual nature1 a most needful kinship with his fellows4 ,see then the use of suffering4 ,the impenitent1 unbelieving man has no such gains4 ,he is absorbed in the distressing experience1 and that absorption narrows and debases the activity of the soul4 ,the treatment of this matter here is necessarily brief4 ,it is hoped1 however1 that the principle has been made clear4 ,does it require any adaptation or under-reading of the language of ,scripture to prove the harmony of its teaching with the view just given of happiness and suffering as related to punishment8 ,throughout the greater part of the ,old ,testament the doctrine of suffering is that old doctrine which the author of ,job found perplexing4 ,not infrequently in the ,new ,testament there is a certain formal return to it2 for even under the light of revelation the meaning of ,divine providence is learnt slowly4 ,but the emphasis rests on life rather than happiness1 and on death rather than suffering in the gospels2 and the whole teaching of ,christ1 pointed to the truth4 ,this world and our discipline here1 the trials of men1 the doctrine of the cross1 the fellowship of the sufferings of ,christ1 are not fitted to introduce us into a state of existence in which mere enjoyment1 the gratification of personal tastes and desires1 shall be the main experience4 ,they are fitted to educate the spiritual nature for life1 fulness of life4 ,immortality becomes credible when it is seen as progress in vigour1 progress towards that profound compassion1 that fidelity1 that unquenchable devotion to the glory of ,god the ,father which marked the life of the ,divine ,son in this world4 ,observe1 it is not denied that joy is and will be desired1 that suffering and pain are and will remain experiences from which human nature must recoil4 ,the desire and the aversion are wrought into our constitution2 and just because we feel them our whole mortal discipline has its value4 ,in the experience of them lies the condition of progress4 ,on the one hand pain urges1 on the other joy attracts4 ,it is in the line of desire for joy of a finer and higher kind that civilisation realises itself1 and even religion lays hold of us and lures us on4 ,but the conditions of progress are not to be mistaken for the end of it4 ,joy assumes sorrow as a possibility4 ,pleasure can only exist as alternative to the experience of pain4 ,and the life that expands and reaches finer power and exaltation in the course of this struggle is the main thing4 ,the struggle ceases to be acute in the higher ranges of life2 it becomes massive1 sustained1 and is carried on in the perfect peace of the soul4 ,therefore the future state of the redeemed is a state of blessedness4 ,but the blessedness accompanying the life is not the glory4 ,the glory of the perfected is life itself4 ,the heaven of the redeemed appears a region of existence in which the exaltation1 enlargement1 and deepening of life shall constantly and consciously go on4 ,conversely the hell of evil-doers will not be simply the pain1 the suffering1 the defeat to which they have doomed themselves1 but the constant attenuation of their life1 the miserable wasting of which they shall be aware1 though they find some pitiful pleasure1 as ,milton imagined his evil angels finding theirs1 in futile schemes of revenge against the ,highest4 ,pain is not in itself an evil4 ,but our nature recoils from suffering and seeks life in brightness and power1 beyond the keen pangs of mortal existence4 ,the creation hopes that itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption4 ,the finer life is1 the more sensible it must be of association with a body doomed to decay1 the more sensible also of that gross human injustice and wrong which dare to pervert ,god's ordinance of pain and ,his sacrament of death1 usurping ,his holy prerogative for the most unholy ends4 ,and so we are brought to the ,cross of ,christ4 ,when ,he bore our sins in ,his own body to the tree1 when ,he suffered for sins once1 the ,righteous for the unrighteous1 the sacrifice was real1 awful1 immeasurably profound4 ,yet1 could death be in any sense degrading or debasing to ,him8 ,could evil touch ,his soul8 ,over its most insolent assumption of the right to injure and destroy ,he stood1 spiritually victorious in the presence of ,his enemies1 and rose1 untouched in soul1 when ,his body was broken on the cross4 ,his sacrifice was great because ,he bore the sins of men and died as ,god's atonement4 ,his sublime devotion to the ,father whose holy law was trampled under foot1 ,his horror and endurance of human iniquity which culminated in ,his death1 made the experience profoundly terrible4 ,thus the spiritual dignity and power ,he gained provided new life for the world4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is now possible to understand the trials of ,job4 ,so far as the sufferer is concerned1 they are no less beneficent than ,his joys2 for they provide that necessary element of probation by which life of a deeper and stronger kind is to be reached1 the opportunity of becoming1 as a man and a servant of the ,almighty1 what he had never been1 what otherwise he could not become4 ,the purpose of ,god is entirely good2 but it will remain with the sufferer himself to enter by the fiery way into full spiritual vigour4 ,he will have the protection and grace of the ,divine ,spirit in his time of sore bewilderment and anguish4 ,yet his own faith must be vindicated while the shadow of ,god's hand rests upon his life4 ,and now the forces of nature and the wild tribes of the desert gather about the happy settlement of the man of ,uz4 ,with dramatic suddenness and cumulative terror stroke after stroke descends4 ,job is seen before the door of his dwelling4 ,the morning broke calm and cloudless1 the bright sunshine of ,arabia filling with brilliant colour the far horizon4 ,the day has been peaceful1 gracious1 another of ,god's gifts4 ,perhaps1 in the early hours1 the father1 as priest of his family1 offered the burnt-offerings of atonement lest his sons should have renounced ,god in their hearts2 and now1 in the evening1 he is sitting calm and glad1 hearing the appeals of those who need his help and dispensing alms with a generous hand4 ,but one comes in haste1 breathless with running1 scarcely able to tell his tale4 ,out in the fields the oxen were ploughing and the asses feeding4 ,suddenly a great band of ,sabeans fell upon them1 swept them away1 slew the servants with the edge of the sword3 this man alone has escaped with his life4 ,rapidly has he spoken2 and before he has done another appears1 a shepherd from the more distant pastures1 to announce a second calamity4 ,the fire of ,god is fallen from heaven1 and hath burned up the sheep1 and the servants1 and consumed them2 and ,i only am escaped to tell thee4 ,they scarcely dare to look on the face of ,job1 and he has no time to speak1 for here is a third messenger1 a camel-driver1 swarthy and naked to the loins1 crying wildly as he runs1 ,the ,chaldans made three bands--fell upon the camels--swept them away--the servants are slain--,i only am left4 ,nor is this the last4 ,a fourth1 with every mark of horror in his face1 comes slowly and brings the most terrible message of all4 ,the sons and daughters of ,job were feasting in their eldest brother's house2 there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house1 and it fell4 ,the young men and women are all dead4 ,one only has escaped1 he who tells the dreadful tale4 ,a certain idealism appears in the causes of the different calamities and their simultaneous1 or almost simultaneous1 occurrence4 ,nothing1 indeed1 is assumed which is not possible in the north of ,arabia4 ,a raid from the south1 of ,sabeans1 the lawless part of a nation otherwise engaged in traffic2 an organised attack by ,chaldans from the east1 again the lawless fringe of the population of the ,euphrates valley1 those who1 inhabiting the margin of the desert1 had taken to desert ways2 then1 of natural causes1 the lightning or the fearful hot wind which coming suddenly stifles and kills1 and the whirlwind1 possible enough after a thunderstorm or simoom1--all of these belong to the region in which ,job lived4 ,but the grouping of the disasters and the invariable escape of one only from each belong to the dramatic setting1 and are intended to have a cumulative effect4 ,a sense of the mysterious is produced1 of supernatural power1 discharging bolt after bolt in some inscrutable mood of antagonism4 ,job is a mark for the arrows of the ,unseen4 ,and when the last messenger has spoken1 we turn in dismay and pity to look on the rich man made poor1 the proud and happy father made childless1 the fearer of ,god on whom the enemy seems to have wrought his will4 ,in the stately ,oriental way1 as a man who bows to fate or the irresistible will of the ,most ,high1 ,job seeks to realise his sudden and awful deprivations4 ,we watch him with silent awe as first he rends his mantle1 the acknowledged sign of mourning and of the disorganisation of life1 then shaves his head1 renouncing in his grief even the natural ornament of the hair1 that the sense of loss and resignation may be indicated4 ,this done1 in deep humiliation he bows and falls prone on the earth and worships1 the fit words falling in a kind of solemn chant from his lips3 ,naked came ,i forth from my mother's womb1 and naked ,i return thereto4 ,jehovah gave1 and ,jehovah hath taken away4 ,let ,jehovah's name be blessed4 ,the silence of grief and of death has fallen about him4 ,no more shall be heard the bustle of the homestead to which1 when the evening shadows were about to fall1 a constant stream of servants and laden oxen used to come1 where the noise of cattle and asses and the shouts of camel-drivers made the music of prosperity4 ,his wife and the few who remain1 with bowed heads1 dumb and aimless1 stand around4 ,swiftly the sun goes down1 and darkness falls upon the desolate dwelling4 ,losses like these are apt to leave men distracted4 ,when everything is swept away1 with the riches those who were to inherit them1 when a man is left1 as ,job says1 naked1 bereft of all that labour had won and the bounty of ,god had given1 expressions of despair do not surprise us1 nor even wild accusations of the ,most ,high4 ,but the faith of this sufferer does not yield4 ,he is resigned1 submissive4 ,the strong trust that has grown in the course of a religious life withstands the shock1 and carries the soul through the crisis4 ,neither did ,job accuse ,god nor did he sin1 though his grief was great4 ,so far he is master of his soul1 unbroken though desolated4 ,the first great round of trial has left the man a believer still4 ,v4 ,,the ,,dilemma ,,of ,,faith4 ,,chap4 ii4 ,as the drama proceeds to unfold the conflict between ,divine grace in the human soul and those chaotic influences which hold the mind in doubt or drag it back into denial1 ,job becomes a type of the righteous sufferer1 the servant of ,god in the hot furnace of affliction4 ,all true poetry runs thus into the typical4 ,the interest of the movement depends on the representative character of the life1 passionate in jealousy1 indignation1 grief1 or ambition1 pressing on exultantly to unheard-of success1 borne down into the deepest circles of woe4 ,here it is not simply a man's constancy that has to be established1 but ,god's truth against the ,adversary's lie1 the everlasting yea against the negations that make all life and virtue seem the mere blossoming of dust4 ,job has to pass through profoundest trouble1 that the drama may exhaust the possibilities of doubt1 and lead the faith of man towards liberty4 ,yet the typical is based on the real2 and the conflict here described has gone on first in the experience of the author4 ,not from the outside1 but from his own life has he painted the sorrows and struggles of a soul urged to the brink of that precipice beyond which lies the blank darkness of the abyss4 ,there are men in whom the sorrows of a whole people and of a whole age seem to concentrate4 ,they suffer with their fellow-men that all may find a way of hope4 ,not unconsciously1 but with the most vivid sense of duty1 a ,divine necessity brought to their door1 they must undergo all the anguish and hew a track through the dense forest to the light beyond4 ,such a man in his age was the writer of this book4 ,and when he now proceeds to the second stage of ,job's affliction every touch appears to show that1 not merely in imagination1 but substantially he endured the trials which he paints4 ,it is his passion that strives and cries1 his sorrowful soul that longs for death4 ,imaginary1 is this work of his8 ,nothing so true1 vehement1 earnest1 can be imaginary4 ,sublime sorrow1 says ,carlyle1 sublime reconciliation2 oldest choral melody as of the heart of mankind4 ,but it shows more than the seeing eye and the mildly understanding heart4 ,it reveals the spirit battling with terrible enemies1 doubts that spring out of the darkness of error1 brood of the primval chaos4 ,the man was one who in this wild element of a life had to struggle onwards2 now fallen1 deep abased2 and ever with tears1 repentance1 with bleeding heart1 rise again1 struggle again1 still onwards4 ,not to this writer1 any more than to the author of ,sartor ,resartus1 did anything come in his dreams4 ,a second scene in heaven is presented to our view4 ,the ,satan appears as before with the sons of the ,elohim1 is asked by the ,most ,high whence he has come1 and replies in the language previously used4 ,again he has been abroad amongst men in his restless search for evil4 ,the challenge of ,god to the ,adversary regarding ,job is also repeated2 but now it has an addition3 ,still he holdeth fast his integrity1 although thou movedst me against him1 to destroy him without cause4 ,the expression although thou movedst me against him is startling4 ,is it an admission after all that the ,almighty can be moved by any consideration less than pure right1 or to act in any way to the disadvantage or hurt of ,his servant8 ,such an interpretation would exclude the idea of supreme power1 wisdom1 and righteousness which unquestionably governs the book from first to last4 ,the words really imply a charge against the ,adversary of malicious untruth4 ,the saying of the ,almighty is ironical1 as ,schultens points out3 ,although thou1 forsooth1 didst incite ,me against him4 ,he who flings sharp javelins of detraction is pierced with a sharper javelin of judgment4 ,yet he goes on with his attempt to ruin ,job1 and prove his own penetration the keenest in the universe4 ,and now he pleads that it is the way of men to care more for themselves1 their own health and comfort1 than for anything else4 ,bereavement and poverty may be like arrows that glance off from polished armour4 ,let disease and bodily pain attack himself1 and a man will show what is really in his heart4 ,skin for skin1 yea1 all that a man hath will he give for himself4 ,but put forth ,thine hand now1 and touch his bone and his flesh1 and he will renounce ,thee openly4 ,the proverb put into ,satan's mouth carries a plain enough meaning1 and yet is not literally easy to interpret4 ,the sense will be clear if we translate it ,hide for skin1 yea1 all that a man hath will he give for himself4 ,the hide of an animal1 lion or sheep1 which a man wears for clothing will be given up to save his own body4 ,a valued article of property often1 it will be promptly renounced when life is in danger the man will flee away naked4 ,in like manner all possessions will be abandoned to keep one's self unharmed4 ,true enough in a sense1 true enough to be used as a proverb1 for proverbs often express a generalisation of the earthly prudence not of the higher ideal1 the saying1 nevertheless1 is in ,satan's use of it a lie--that is1 if he includes the children when he says1 all that a man hath will he give for himself4 ,job would have died for his children4 ,many a father and mother1 with far less pride in their children than ,job had in his1 would die for them4 ,possessions indeed1 mere worldly gear1 find their real value or worthlessness when weighed against life1 and human love has ,divine depths which a sneering devil cannot see4 ,the portraiture of soulless human beings is one of the recent experiments in fictitious literature1 and it may have some justification4 ,when the design is to show the dreadful issue of unmitigated selfishness1 a distinctly moral purpose4 ,if1 on the other hand1 art for art's sake is the plea1 and the writer's skill in painting the vacant ribs of death is used with a sinister reflection on human nature as a whole1 the approach to ,satan's temper marks the degradation of literature4 ,christian faith clings to the hope that ,divine grace may create a soul in the ghastly skeleton4 ,the ,adversary gloats over the lifeless picture of his own imagining and affirms that man can never be animated by the love of ,god4 ,the problem which the ,satan of ,job long ago presented haunts the mind of our age4 ,it is one of those ominous symptoms that point to times of trial in which the experience of humanity may resemble the typical affliction and desperate struggle of the man of ,uz4 ,a grim possibility of truth lies in the taunt of ,satan that1 if ,job's flesh and bone are touched1 he will renounce ,god openly4 ,the test of sore disease is more trying than loss of wealth at least4 ,and1 besides1 bodily affliction1 added to the rest1 will carry ,job into yet another region of vital experience4 ,therefore it is the will of ,god to send it4 ,again ,satan is the instrument1 and the permission is given1 ,behold1 he is in thine hand3 only save his life--imperil not his life4 ,here1 as before1 when causes are to be brought into operation that are obscure and may appear to involve harshness1 the ,adversary is the intermediary agent4 ,on the face of the drama a certain formal deference is paid to the opinion that ,god cannot inflict pain on those whom ,he loves4 ,but for a short time only is the responsibility1 so to speak1 of afflicting ,job partly removed from the ,almighty to ,satan4 ,at this point the ,adversary disappears2 and henceforth ,god is acknowledged to have sent the disease as well as all the other afflictions to ,his servant4 ,it is only in a poetic sense that ,satan is represented as wielding natural forces and sowing the seeds of disease2 the writer has no theory and needs no theory of malignant activity4 ,he knows that all is of ,god4 ,time has passed sufficient for the realisation by ,job of his poverty and bereavement4 ,the sense of desolation has settled on his soul as morning after morning dawned1 week after week went by1 emptied of the loving voices he used to hear1 and the delightful and honourable tasks that used to engage him4 ,in sympathy with the exhausted mind1 the body has become languid1 and the change from sufficiency of the best food to something like starvation gives the germs of disease an easy hold4 ,he is stricken with elephantiasis1 one of the most terrible forms of leprosy1 a tedious malady attended with intolerable irritation and loathsome ulcers4 ,the disfigured face1 the blackened body1 soon reveal the nature of the infection2 and he is forthwith carried out according to the invariable custom and laid on the heap of refuse1 chiefly burnt litter1 which has accumulated near his dwelling4 ,in ,arab villages this mezbele is often a mound of considerable size1 where1 if any breath of wind is blowing1 the full benefit of its coolness can be enjoyed4 ,it is the common playground of the children1 and there the outcast1 who has been stricken with some loathsome malady1 and is not allowed to enter the dwellings of men1 lays himself down1 begging an alms of the passers-by1 by day1 and by night sheltering himself among the ashes which the heat of the sun has warmed4 ,at the beginning ,job was seen in the full stateliness of ,oriental life2 now the contrasting misery of it appears1 the abjectness into which it may rapidly fall4 ,without proper medical skill or appliances1 the houses no way adapted for a case of disease like ,job's1 the wealthiest pass like the poorest into what appears the nadir of existence4 ,now at length the trial of faithfulness is in the way of being perfected4 ,if the helplessness1 the torment of disease1 the misery of this abject state do not move his mind from its trust in ,god1 he will indeed be a bulwark of religion against the atheism of the world4 ,but in what form does the question of ,job's continued fidelity present itself now to the mind of the writer8 ,singularly1 as a question regarding his integrity4 ,from the general wreck one life has been spared1 that of ,job's wife4 ,to her it appears that the wrath of the ,almighty has been launched against her husband1 and all that prevents him from finding refuge in death from the horrors of lingering disease is his integrity4 ,if he maintains the pious resignation he showed under the first afflictions and during the early stages of his malady1 he will have to suffer on4 ,but it will be better to die at once4 ,why1 she asks1 dost thou still hold fast thine integrity8 ,renounce ,god1 and die4 ,it is a different note from that which runs through the controversy between ,job and his friends4 ,always on his integrity he takes his stand2 against his right to affirm it they direct their arguments4 ,they do not insist on the duty of a man under all circumstances to believe in ,god and submit to ,his will4 ,their sole concern is to prove that ,job has not been sincere and faithful and deserving of acceptance before ,god4 ,but his wife knows him to have been righteous and pious2 and that1 she thinks1 will serve him no longer4 ,let him abandon his integrity2 renounce ,god4 ,on two sides the sufferer is plied4 ,but he does not waver4 ,between the two he stands1 a man who has integrity and will keep it till he die4 ,the accusations of ,satan1 turning on the question whether ,job was sincere in religion or one who served ,god for what he got1 prepare us to understand why his integrity is made the hinge of the debate4 ,to ,job his upright obedience was the heart of his life1 and it alone made his indefeasible claim on ,god4 ,but faith1 not obedience1 is the only real claim a man can advance4 ,and the connection is to be found in this way4 ,as a man perfect and upright1 who feared ,god and eschewed evil1 ,job enjoyed the approval of his conscience and the sense of ,divine favour4 ,his life had been rooted in the steady assurance that the ,almighty was his friend4 ,he had walked in freedom and joy cared for by the providence of the ,eternal1 guarded by ,his love1 his soul at peace with that ,divine ,lawgiver whose will he did4 ,his faith rested like an arch on two piers--one1 his own righteousness which ,god had inspired2 the other1 the righteousness of ,god which his own reflected4 ,if it were proved that he had not been righteous1 his belief that ,god had been guarding him1 teaching him1 filling his soul with light1 would break under him like a withered branch4 ,if he had not been righteous indeed1 he could not know what righteousness is1 he could not know whether ,god is righteous or not1 he could not know ,god nor trust in ,him4 ,the experience of the past was1 in this case1 a delusion4 ,he had nothing to rest upon1 no faith4 ,on the other hand1 if those afflictions1 coming why he could not tell1 proved ,god to be capricious1 unjust1 all would equally be lost4 ,the dilemma was that1 holding to the belief in his own integrity1 he seemed to be driven to doubt ,god2 but if he believed ,god to be righteous he seemed to be driven to doubt his own integrity4 ,either was fatal4 ,he was in a narrow strait between two rocks1 on one or other of which faith was like to be shattered4 ,but his integrity was clear to him4 ,that stood within the region of his own consciousness4 ,he knew that ,god had made him of dutiful heart and given him a constant will to be obedient4 ,only while he believed this could he keep hold of his life4 ,as the one treasure saved out of the wreck1 when possessions1 children1 health were gone1 to cherish his integrity was the last duty4 ,renounce his conscience of goodwill and faithfulness8 ,it was the one fact bridging the gulf of disaster1 the safeguard against despair4 ,and is this not a true presentation of the ultimate inquiry regarding faith8 ,if the justice we know is not an adumbration of ,divine justice1 if the righteousness we do is not taught us by ,god1 of the same kind as ,his1 if loving justice and doing righteousness we are not showing faith in ,god1 if renouncing all for the right1 clinging to it though the heavens should fall1 we are not in touch with the ,highest1 then there is no basis for faith1 no link between our human life and the ,eternal4 ,all must go if these deep principles of morality and religion are not to be trusted4 ,what a man knows of the just and good by clinging to it1 suffering for it1 rejoicing in it1 is indeed the anchor that keeps him from being swept into the waste of waters4 ,the woman's part in the controversy is still to be considered2 and it is but faintly indicated4 ,upon the ,arab soul there lay no sense of woman's life4 ,her view of providence or of religion was never asked4 ,the writer probably means here that ,job's wife would naturally1 as a woman1 complicate the sum of his troubles4 ,she expresses ill-considered resentment against his piety4 ,to her he is righteous over much1 and her counsel is that of despair4 ,was this all that the ,great ,god whom he trusted could do for him8 ,better bid farewell to such a ,god4 ,she can do nothing to relieve the dreadful torment and can see but the one possible end4 ,but it is ,god who is keeping her husband alive1 and one word would be enough to set him free4 ,her language is strangely illogical1 meant indeed to be so1--a woman's desperate talk4 ,she does not see that1 though ,job renounced ,god1 he might yet live on1 in greater misery than ever1 just because he would then have no spiritual stay4 ,well1 some have spoken very strongly about ,job's wife4 ,she has been called a helper of the ,devil1 an organ of ,satan1 an infernal fury4 ,chrysostom thinks that the ,enemy left her alive because he deemed her a fit scourge to ,job by which to plague him more acutely than by any other4 ,ewald1 with more point1 says3 ,nothing can be more scornful than her words which mean1 ',thou1 who under all the undeserved sufferings which have been inflicted on thee by thy ,god1 hast been faithful to ,him even in fatal sickness1 as if ,he would help or desired to help thee who art beyond help1--to thee1 fool1 ,i say1 ,bid ,god farewell1 and die6' ,there can be no doubt that she appears as the temptress of her husband1 putting into speech the atheistic doubt which the ,adversary could not directly suggest4 ,and the case is all the worse for ,job that affection and sympathy are beneath her words4 ,brave and true life appears to her to profit nothing if it has to be spent in pain and desolation4 ,she does not seem to speak so much in scorn as in the bitterness of her soul4 ,she is no infernal fury1 but one whose love1 genuine enough1 does not enter into the fellowship of his sufferings4 ,it was necessary to ,job's trial that the temptation should be presented1 and the ignorant affection of the woman serves the needful purpose4 ,she speaks not knowing what she says1 not knowing that her words pierce like sharp arrows into his very soul4 ,as a figure in the drama she has her place1 helping to complete the round of trial4 ,the answer of ,job is one of the fine touches of the book4 ,he does not denounce her as an instrument of ,satan nor dismiss her from his presence4 ,in the midst of his pain he is the great chief of ,uz and the generous husband4 ,thou speakest1 he mildly says1 as one of the foolish1 that is1 godless1 women speaketh4 ,it is not like thee to say such things as these4 ,and then he adds the question born of sublime faith1 ,shall we receive gladness at the hand of ,god1 and shall we not receive affliction8 ,one might declare this affirmation of faith so clear and decisive that the trial of ,job as a servant of ,god might well close with it4 ,earthly good1 temporal joy1 abundance of possessions1 children1 health1--these he had received4 ,now in poverty and desolation1 his body wrecked by disease1 he lies tormented and helpless4 ,suffering of mind and physical affliction are his in almost unexampled keenness1 acute in themselves and by contrast with previous felicity4 ,his wife1 too1 instead of helping him to endure1 urges him to dishonour and death4 ,still he does not doubt that all is wisely ordered by ,god4 ,he puts aside1 if indeed with a strenuous effort of the soul1 that cruel suggestion of despair1 and affirms anew the faith which is supposed to bind him to a life of torment4 ,should not this repel the accusations brought against the religion of ,job and of humanity8 ,the author does not think so4 ,he has only prepared the way for his great discussion4 ,but the stages of trial already passed show how deep and vital is the problem that lies beyond4 ,the faith which has emerged so triumphantly is to be shaken as by the ruin of the world4 ,strangely and erroneously has a distinction been drawn between the previous afflictions and the disease which1 it is said1 opens or reveals greater depths in ,job's reverent piety4 ,one says3 ,in his former trial he blessed ,god who took away the good ,he had added to naked man2 this was strictly no evil3 now ,job bows beneath ,god's hand when ,he inflicts positive evil4 ,such literalism in reading the words shall we not receive evil8 implies a gross slander on ,job4 ,if he had meant that the loss of health was evil as contrasted with the loss of children1 that from his point of view bereavement was no evil1 then indeed he would have sinned against love1 and therefore against ,god4 ,it is the whole course of his trial he is reviewing4 ,shall we receive good--joy1 prosperity1 the love of children1 years of physical vigour1 and shall we not receive pain--this burden of loss1 desolation1 bodily torment8 ,herein ,job sinned not with his lips4 ,again1 had he meant moral evil1 something involving cruelty and unrighteousness1 he would have sinned indeed1 his faith would have been destroyed by his own false judgment of ,god4 ,the words here must be interpreted in harmony with the distinction already drawn between physical and mental suffering1 which1 as ,god appoints them1 have a good design1 and moral evil1 which can in no way have its source in ,him4 ,and now the narrative passes into a new phase4 ,as a chief of ,uz1 the greatest of the ,bene-,kedem1 ,job was known beyond the desert4 ,as a man of wisdom and generosity he had many friends4 ,the tidings of his disasters and finally of his sore malady are carried abroad2 and after months1 perhaps 7for a journey across the sandy waste needs preparation and time71 three of those who know him best and admire him most1 ,job's three friends1 appear upon the scene4 ,to sympathise with him1 to cheer and comfort him1 they come with one accord1 each on his camel1 not unattended1 for the way is beset with dangers4 ,they are men of mark all of them4 ,the emeer of ,uz has chiefs1 no doubt1 as his peculiar friends1 although the ,septuagint colours too much in calling them kings4 ,it is1 however1 their piety1 their likeness to himself1 as men who fear and serve the ,true ,god1 that binds them to ,job's heart4 ,they will contribute what they can of counsel and wise suggestion to throw light on his trials and lift him into hope4 ,no arguments of unbelief or cowardice will be used by them1 nor will they propose that a stricken man should renounce ,god and die4 ,eliphaz is from ,teman1 that centre of thought and culture where men worshipped the ,most ,high and meditated upon ,his providence4 ,shuach1 the city of ,bildad1 can scarcely be identified with the modern ,shuwak1 about two hundred and fifty miles south-west from the ,jauf near the ,red ,sea1 nor with the land of the ,tsukhi of the ,assyrian inscriptions1 lying on the ,chaldan frontier4 ,it was probably a city1 now forgotten1 in the ,iduman region4 ,maan1 also near ,petra1 may be the ,naamah of ,zophar4 ,it is at least tempting to regard all the three as neighbours who might without great difficulty communicate with each other and arrange a visit to their common friend4 ,from their meeting-place at ,teman or at ,maan they would1 in that case1 have to make a journey of some two hundred miles across one of the most barren and dangerous deserts of ,arabia1--clear enough proof of their esteem for ,job and their deep sympathy4 ,the fine idealism of the poem is maintained in this new act4 ,men of knowledge and standing are these4 ,they may fail2 they may take a false view of their friend and his state2 but their sincerity must not be doubted nor their rank as thinkers4 ,whether the three represent ancient culture1 or rather the conceptions of the writer's own time1 is a question that may be variously answered4 ,the book1 however1 is so full of life1 the life of earnest thought and keen thirst for truth1 that the type of religious belief found in all the three must have been familiar to the author4 ,these men are not1 any more than ,job himself1 contemporaries of ,ephron the ,hittite or the ,balaam of ,numbers4 ,they stand out as religious thinkers of a far later age1 and represent the current ,rabbinism of the post-,solomonic era4 ,the characters are filled in from a profound knowledge of man and man's life4 ,yet each of them1 ,temanite1 ,shuchite1 ,naamathite1 is at bottom a ,hebrew believer striving to make his creed apply to a case not yet brought into his system1 and finally1 when every suggestion is repelled1 taking refuge in that hardness of temper which is peculiarly ,jewish4 ,they are not men of straw1 as some imagine1 but types of the culture and thought which led to ,pharisaism4 ,the writer argues not so much with ,edom as with his own people4 ,approaching ,job's dwelling the three friends look eagerly from their camels1 and at length perceive one prostrate1 disfigured1 lying on the mezbele1 a miserable wreck of manhood4 ,that is not our friend1 they say to each other4 ,again and yet again1 ,this is not he2 this surely cannot be he4 ,yet nowhere else than in the place of the forsaken do they find their noble friend4 ,the brave1 bright chief they knew1 so stately in his bearing1 so abundant and honourable1 how has he fallen6 ,they lift up their voices and weep2 then1 struck into amazed silence1 each with torn mantle and dust-sprinkled head1 for seven days and nights they sit beside him in grief unspeakable4 ,real is their sympathy2 deep too1 as deep as their character and sentiments admit4 ,as comforters they are proverbial in a bad sense4 ,yet one says truly1 perhaps out of bitter experience1 ,who that knows what most modern consolation is can prevent a prayer that ,job's comforters may be his8 ,they do not call upon him for an hour and invent excuses for the departure which they so anxiously await2 they do not write notes to him1 and go about their business as if nothing had happened2 they do not inflict upon him meaningless commonplaces4#a ,it was their misfortune1 not altogether their fault1 that they had mistaken notions which they deemed it their duty to urge upon him4 ,job1 disappointed by-and-by1 did not spare them1 and we feel so much for him that we are apt to deny them their due4 ,yet are we not bound to ask1 ,what friend has had equal proof of our sympathy8 ,depth of nature2 sincerity of friendship2 the will to console3 let those mock at ,job's comforters as wanting here who have travelled two hundred miles over the burning sand to visit a man sunk in disaster1 brought to poverty and the gate of death1 and sat with him seven days and nights in generous silence4 ,,footnote3 #a ,mark ,rutherford4 ,,the ,,first ,,colloquy4 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,cry ,,from ,,the ,,depth4 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 iii4 ,while the friends of ,job sat beside him that dreary week of silence1 each of them was meditating in his own way the sudden calamities which had brought the prosperous emeer to poverty1 the strong man to this extremity of miserable disease4 ,many thoughts came and were dismissed2 but always the question returned1 ,why these disasters1 this shadow of dreadful death8 ,and for very compassion and sorrow each kept secret the answer that came and came again and would not be rejected4 ,meanwhile the silence has weighed upon the sufferer1 and the burden of it becomes at length insupportable4 ,he has tried to read their thoughts1 to assure himself that grief alone kept them dumb1 that when they spoke it would be to cheer him with kindly words1 to praise and reinvigorate his faith1 to tell him of ,divine help that would not fail him in life or death4 ,but as he sees their faces darken into inquiry first and then into suspicion1 and reads at length in averted looks the thought they cannot conceal1 when he comprehends that the men he loved and trusted hold him to be a transgressor and under the ban of ,god1 this final disaster of false judgment is overwhelming4 ,the man whom all circumstances appear to condemn1 who is bankrupt1 solitary1 outworn with anxiety and futile efforts to prove his honour1 if he have but one to believe in him1 is helped to endure and hope4 ,but ,job finds human friendship yield like a reed4 ,all the past is swallowed up in one tragical thought that1 be a man what he may1 there is no refuge for him in the justice of man4 ,everything is gone that made human society and existence in the world worth caring for4 ,his wife1 indeed1 believes in his integrity1 but values it so little that she would have him cast it away with a taunt against ,god4 ,his friends1 it is plain to see1 deny it4 ,he is suffering at ,god's hand1 and they are hardened against him4 ,the iron enters into his soul4 ,true1 it is the shame and torment of his disease that move him to utter his bitter lamentation4 ,yet the underlying cause of his loss of self-command and of patient confidence in ,god must not be missed4 ,the disease has made life a physical agony2 but he could bear that if still no cloud came between him and the face of ,god4 ,now these dark1 suspicious looks which meet him every time he lifts his eyes1 which he feels resting upon him even when he bows his head in the attempt to pray1 make religion seem a mockery4 ,and in pitiful anticipation of the doom to which they are silently driving him1 he cries aloud against the life that remains4 ,he has lived in vain4 ,would he had never been born6 ,in this first lyrical speech put into the mouth of ,job there is an ,oriental1 hyperbolical strain1 suited to the speaker and his circumstances4 ,but we are also made to feel that calamity and dejection have gone near to unhinging his mind4 ,he is not mad1 but his language is vehement1 almost that of insanity4 ,it would be wrong1 therefore1 to criticise the words in a matter-of-fact way1 and against the spirit of the book to try by the rules of ,christian resignation one so tossed and racked1 in the very throat of the furnace4 ,this is a pious man1 a patient man1 who lately said1 ,shall we receive joy at the hand of ,god1 and shall we not receive affliction8 ,he seems to have lost all control of himself and plunges into wild untamed speech filled with anathemas1 as one who had never feared ,god4 ,but he is driven from self-possession4 ,phantasmal now is all that brave life of his as prince and as father1 as a man in honour beloved of the ,highest4 ,did he ever enjoy it8 ,if he did1 was it not as in a dream8 ,was he not rather a deceiver1 a vile transgressor8 ,his state befits that4 ,light and love and life are turned into bitter gall4 ,i lived1 says one distressed like ,job1 in a continual1 indefinite1 pining fear2 tremulous1 pusillanimous1 apprehensive of ,i knew not what2 it seemed as if the heavens and the earth were but boundless jaws of a devouring monster wherein ,i1 palpitating1 waited to be devoured4444 ',man is1 properly speaking1 based upon hope1 he has no other possession but hope2 this world of his is emphatically the ,place of ,hope4' ,we see ,job1 for the present1 quite shut out from hope2 looking not into the golden orient1 but vaguely all round into a dim firmament pregnant with earthquake and tornado4 ,the poem may be read calmly4 ,let us remember that it came not calmly from the pen of the writer1 but as the outburst of volcanic feeling from the deep centres of life4 ,it is ,job we hear2 the language befits his despondency1 his position in the drama4 ,but surely it presents to us a real experience of one who1 in the hour of ,israel's defeat and captivity1 had seen his home swept bare1 wife and children seized and tortured or borne down in the rush of savage soldiery1 while he himself lived on1 reduced in one day to awful memories and doubts as the sole consciousness of life4 ,is not some crisis like this with its irretrievable woes translated for us here into the language of ,job's bitter cry8 ,are we not made witnesses of a tragedy greater even than his8 ,what is to become of us1 asks ,amiel1 when everything leaves us1 health1 joy1 affections1 when the sun seems to have lost its warmth1 and life is stripped of all charm8 ,must we either harden or forget8 ,there is but one answer1 ,keep close to duty1 do what you ought1 come what may4 ,the mood of these words is not so devout as other passages of the same writer4 ,the advice1 however1 is often tendered in the name of religion to the life-weary and desolate2 and there are circumstances to which it well applies4 ,but a distracting sense of impotence weighed down the life of ,job4 ,duty8 ,he could do nothing4 ,it was impossible to find relief in work2 hence the fierceness of his words4 ,nor can we fail to hear in them a strain of impatience almost of anger3 ,to the unregenerate ,prometheus ,vinctus of a man1 it is ever the bitterest aggravation of his wretchedness that he is conscious of virtue1 that he feels himself the victim not of suffering only1 but of injustice4 ,what then8 ,is the heroic inspiration we name ,virtue but some passion1 some bubble of the blood8444 ,thus has the bewildered wanderer to stand1 as so many have done1 shouting question after question into the sibyl cave of ,destiny1 and receive no answer but an echo4 ,it is all a grim desert1 this once fair world of his4 ,job is already asserting to himself the reality of his own virtue1 for he resents the suspicion of it4 ,indeed1 with all the mystery of his affliction yet to solve1 he can but think that ,providence is also casting doubt on him4 ,a keen sense of the favour of ,god had been his4 ,now he becomes aware that while he is still the same man who moved about in gladness and power1 his life has a different look to others2 men and nature conspire against him4 ,his once brave faith--the ,lord gave1 the ,lord hath taken away--is almost overborne4 ,he does not renounce1 but he has a struggle to save it4 ,the subtle ,divine grace at his heart alone keeps him from bidding farewell to ,god4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the outburst of ,job's speech falls into three lyrical strophes1 the first ending at the tenth verse1 the second at the nineteenth1 the third closing with the chapter4 ,i4 ,job opened his mouth and cursed his day4 ,in a kind of wild impossible revision of providence and reopening of questions long settled1 he assumes the right of heaping denunciations on the day of his birth4 ,he is so fallen1 so distraught1 and the end of his existence appears to have come in such profound disaster1 the face of ,god as well as of man frowning on him1 that he turns savagely on the only fact left to strike at1--his birth into the world4 ,but the whole strain is imaginative4 ,his revolt is unreason1 not impiety either against ,god or his parents4 ,he does not lose the instinct of a good man1 one who keeps in mind the love of father and mother and the intention of the ,almighty whom he still reveres4 ,life is an act of ,god3 he would not have it marred again by infelicity like his own4 ,so the day as an ideal factor in history or cause of existence is given up to chaos4 ,that day1 there6 ,darkness be it4 ,seek it not the ,high ,god from above2 ,and no light stream on it4 ,darkness and the nether gloom reclaim it4 ,encamp over it the clouds2 ,scare it blacknesses of the day4 ,the idea is1 ,let the day of my birth be got rid of1 so that no other come into being on such a day2 let ,god pass from it--then ,he will not give life on that day4 ,mingled in this is the old world notion of days having meanings and powers of their own4 ,this day had proved malign1 terribly bad4 ,it was already a chaotic day1 not fit for a man's birth4 ,let every natural power of storm and eclipse draw it back to the void4 ,the night too1 as part of the day1 comes under imprecation4 ,that night1 there6 ,darkness seize it1 ,joy have it none among the days of the year1 ,nor come into the numbering of months4 ,see6 ,that night1 be it barren2 ,no song-voice come to it3 ,ban it1 the cursers of day ,skilful to stir up leviathan4 ,dark be the stars of its twilight1 ,may it long for the light--find none1 ,nor see the eyelids of dawn4 ,the vividness here is from superstition1 fancies of past generations1 old dreams of a child race4 ,foreign they would be to the mind of ,job in his strength2 but in great disaster the thoughts are apt to fall back on these levels of ignorance and dim efforts to explain1 omens and powers intangible4 ,it is quite easy to follow ,job in this relapse1 half wilful1 half for easing of his bosom4 ,throughout ,arabia1 ,chalda1 and ,india went a belief in evil powers that might be invoked to make a particular day one of misfortune4 ,the leviathan is the dragon which was thought to cause eclipses by twining its black coils about the sun and moon4 ,these vague undertones of belief ran back probably to myths of the sky and the storm1 and ,job ordinarily must have scorned them4 ,now1 for the time1 he chooses to make them serve his need of stormy utterance4 ,if any who hear him really believe in magicians and their spells1 they are welcome to gather through that belief a sense of his condition2 or if they choose to feel pious horror1 they may be shocked4 ,he flings out maledictions1 knowing in his heart that they are vain words4 ,is it not something strange that the happy past is here entirely forgotten8 ,why has ,job nothing to say of the days that shone brightly upon him8 ,have they no weight in the balance against pain and grief8 ,the tempest in my mind ,doth from my senses take all feeling else ,save what beats there4 ,his mind is certainly clouded2 for it is not vain to say that piety preserves the thought of what ,god once gave1 and ,job had himself spoken of it when his disease was young4 ,at this point he is an example of what man is when he allows the water-floods to overflow him and the sad present to extinguish a brighter past4 ,the sense of a wasted life is upon him1 because he does not yet understand what the saving of life is4 ,to be kind to others and to be happy in one's own kindness is not for man so great a benefit1 so high a use of life1 as to suffer with others and for them4 ,what were the life of our ,lord on earth and ,his death but a revelation to man of the secret he had never grasped and still but half approves8 ,the ,book of ,job1 a long1 yearning cry out of the night1 shows how the world needed ,christ to shed ,his ,divine light upon all our experiences and unite them in a religion of sacrifice and triumph4 ,the book moves toward that reconciliation which only the ,christ can achieve4 ,as yet1 looking at the sufferer here1 we see that the light of the future has not dawned upon him4 ,only when he is brought to bay by the falsehoods of man1 in the absolute need of his soul1 will he boldly anticipate the redemption and fling himself for refuge on a justifying ,god4 ,,ii4 ,in the second strophe cursing is exchanged for wailing1 fruitless reproach of a long past day for a touching chant in praise of the grave4 ,if his birth had to be1 why could he not have passed at once into the shades8 ,the lament1 though not so passionate1 is full of tragic emotion4 ,the phrases of it have been woven into a modern hymn and used to express what ,christians may feel2 but they are pagan in tone1 and meant by the writer to embody the unhopeful thought of the race4 ,here is no outlook beyond the inanition of death1 the oblivion and silence of the tomb4 ,it is not the extreme of unfaith1 but rather of weakness and misery4 ,wherefore hastened the knees to meet me1 ,and why the breasts that ,i should suck8 ,for then1 having sunk down1 would ,i repose1 ,fallen asleep there would be rest for me4 ,with kings and councillors of the earth ,who built them solitary piles2 ,or with princes who had gold1 ,who filled their houses with silver2 ,or as a hidden abortion ,i had not been1 ,as infants who never saw light4 ,there the wicked cease from raging1 ,and there the outworn rest4 ,together the prisoners are at ease1 ,not hearing the call of the task-master4 ,small and great are there the same1 ,the slave set free from his lord4 ,it is beautiful poetry1 and the images have a singular charm for the dejected mind4 ,the chief point1 however1 for us to notice is the absence of any thought of judgment4 ,in the dim under-world1 hid as beneath heavy clouds1 power and energy are not4 ,existence has fallen to so low an ebb that it scarcely matters whether men were good or bad in this life1 nor is it needful to separate them4 ,for the tyrant can do no more harm to the captive1 nor the robber to his victim4 ,the astute councillor is no better than the slave4 ,it is a kind of existence below the level of moral judgment1 below the level either of fear or joy4 ,from the peacefulness of this region none are excluded2 as there will be no strength to do good there will be none to do evil4 ,the small and great are there the same4 ,the stillness and calm of the dead body deceive the mind1 willing in its wretchedness to be deceived4 ,when the writer put this chant into the mouth of ,job1 he had in memory the pyramids of ,egypt and tombs1 like those of ,petra1 carved in the lonely hills4 ,the contrast is thus made picturesque between the state of ,job lying in loathsome disease and the lot of those who are gathered to the mighty dead4 ,for whether the rich are buried in their stately sepulchres1 or the body of a slave is hastily covered with desert sand1 all enter into one painless repose4 ,the whole purpose of the passage is to mark the extremity of hopelessness1 the mind revelling in images of its own decay4 ,we are not meant to rest in that love of death from which ,job vainly seeks comfort4 ,on the contrary1 we are to see him by-and-by roused to interest in life and its issues4 ,this is no halting-place in the poem1 as it often is in human thought4 ,a great problem of ,divine righteousness hangs unsolved4 ,with the death of the prisoner and the down-trodden slave whose worn-out body is left a prey to the vulture--with the death of the tyrant whose evil pride has built a stately tomb for his remains--all is not ended4 ,peace has not come4 ,rather has the unravelling of the tangle to begin4 ,the ,all-righteous has to make ,his inquisition and deal out the justice of eternity4 ,modern poetry1 however1 often repeats in its own way the old-world dream1 mistaking the silence and composure of the dead face for a spiritual deliverance3-- ,the aching craze to live ends1 and life glides ,lifeless--to nameless quiet1 nameless joy4 ,blessed ,nirvana1 sinless1 stirless rest1 ,that change which never changes4 ,to ,christianity this idea is utterly foreign1 yet it mingles with some religious teaching1 and is often to be found in the weaker sorts of religious fiction and verse4 ,,iii4 ,the last portion of ,job's address begins with a note of inquiry4 ,he strikes into eager questioning of heaven and earth regarding his state4 ,what is he kept alive for8 ,he pursues death with his longing as one goes into the mountains to seek treasure4 ,and again1 his way is hid2 he has no future4 ,god hath hedged him in on this side by losses1 on that by grief2 behind a past mocks him1 before is a shape which he follows and yet dreads4 ,wherefore gives ,he light to wretched men ,life to the bitter in soul8 ,who long for death but no6 ,search for it more than for treasures4 ,it is indeed a horrible condition1 this of the baffled mind to which nothing remains but its own gnawing thought that finds neither reason of being nor end of turmoil1 that can neither cease to question nor find answer to inquiries that rack the spirit4 ,there is energy enough1 life enough to feel life a terror1 and no more2 not enough for any mastery even of stoical resolve4 ,the power of self-consciousness seems to be the last injury1 a ,nessus-shirt1 the gift of a strange hate4 ,the real agony is the silence1 the ignorance of the why and the wherefore1 the ,sphinx-like imperturbability which meets his prayers4 ,this struggle for a light that will not come has been expressed by ,matthew ,arnold in his ,empedocles on ,etna1 a poem which may in some respects be named a modern version of ,job3-- ,this heart will glow no more2 thou art ,a living man no more1 ,empedocles6 ,nothing but a devouring flame of thought-- ,but a naked eternally restless mind4444 ,to the elements it came from ,everything will return-- ,our bodies to earth1 ,our blood to water1 ,heat to fire1 ,breath to air4 ,they were well born1 ,they will be well entombed-- ,but mind1 but thought-- ,where will they find their parent element8 ,what will receive them1 who will call them home8 ,but we shall still be in them and they in us4444 ,and we shall be unsatisfied as now2 ,and we shall feel the agony of thirst1 ,the ineffable longing for the life of life1 ,baffled for ever4 ,thought yields no result2 the outer universe is dumb and impenetrable4 ,still ,job would revive if a battle for righteousness offered itself to him4 ,he has never had to fight for ,god or for his own faith4 ,when the trumpet call is heard he will respond2 but he is not yet aware of hearing it4 ,the closing verses have presented considerable difficulty to interpreters1 who on the one hand shrink from the supposition that ,job is going back on his past life of prosperity and finding there the origin of his fear1 and on the other hand see the danger of leaving so significant a passage without definite meaning4 ,the ,revised ,version puts all the verbs of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses into the present tense1 and ,dr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson thinks translation into the past tense would give a meaning contrary to the idea of the poem4 ,now1 a considerable interval had already elapsed from the time of ,job's calamities1 even from the beginning of his illness1 quite long enough to allow the growth of anxiety and fear as to the judgment of the world4 ,job was not ignorant of the caprice and hardness of men4 ,he knew how calamity was interpreted2 he knew that many who once bowed to his greatness already heaped scorn upon his fall4 ,may not his fear have been that his friends from beyond the desert would furnish the last and in some respects most cutting of his sorrows8 ,i have feared a fear2 it has come upon me1 ,and that which ,i dread has come to me4 ,i have not been at ease1 nor quiet1 nor have ,i had rest2 ,yet trouble has come4 ,in his brooding soul1 those seven days and nights1 fear has deepened into certainty4 ,he is a man despised4 ,even for those three his circumstances have proved too much4 ,did he imagine for a moment that their coming might relieve the pressure of his lot and open a way to the recovery of his place among men8 ,the trouble is deeper than ever2 they have stirred a tempest in his breast4 ,note that in his whole agony ,job makes no motion towards suicide4 ,arnold's ,empedocles cries against life1 flings out his questions to a dumb universe1 and then plunges into the crater of ,etna4 ,here1 as at other points1 the inspiration of the author of our book strikes clear between stoicism and pessimism1 defiance of the world to do its worst and confession that the struggle is too terrible4 ,the deep sense of all that is tragic in life1 and1 with this1 the firm persuasion that nothing is appointed to man but what he is able to bear1 together make the clear ,bible note4 ,it may seem that ,job's ejaculations differ little from the cry out of the ,city of ,dreadful ,night1 ,weary of erring in this desert1 ,life1 ,weary of hoping hopes for ever vain1 ,weary of struggling in all sterile strife1 ,weary of thought which maketh nothing plain1 ,i close my eyes and calm my panting breath ,and pray to thee1 ,o ever quiet ,death1 ,to come and soothe away my bitter pain4 ,but the writer of the book knows what is in hand4 ,he has to show how far faith may be pressed down and bent by the sore burdens of life without breaking4 ,he has to give us the sense of a soul in the uttermost depth1 that we may understand the sublime argument which follows1 know its importance1 and find our own tragedy exhibited1 our own need met1 the personal and the universal marching together to an issue4 ,suicide is no issue for a life1 any more than universal cataclysm for the evolution of a world4 ,despair is no refuge4 ,the inspired writer here sees so far1 so clearly1 that to mention suicide would be absurd4 ,the struggle of life cannot be renounced4 ,so much he knows by a spiritual instinct which anticipates the wisdom of later times4 ,were this book a simple record of fact1 we have ,job in a position far more trying than that of ,saul after his defeat on ,gilboa2 but it is an ideal prophetic writing1 a ,divine poem1 and the faith it is designed to commend saves the man from interfering by any deed of his with the will of ,god4 ,we are prepared for the vehement controversy that follows and the sustained appeal of the sufferer to that ,power which has laid upon him such a weight of agony4 ,when he breaks into passionate cries and seems to be falling away from all trust1 we do not despair of him nor of the cause he represents4 ,the intensity with which he longs for death is actually a sign and measure of the strong life that throbs within him1 which yet will be led out into light and freedom and come to peace as it were in the very clash of revolt4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,things ,,eliphaz ,,had ,,seen4 ,,eliphaz ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 iv41 v4 ,the ideas of sin and suffering against which the poem of ,job was written come now dramatically into view4 ,the belief of the three friends had always been that ,god1 as righteous ,governor of human life1 gives felicity in proportion to obedience and appoints trouble in exact measure of disobedience4 ,job himself1 indeed1 must have held the same creed4 ,we may imagine that while he was prosperous his friends had often spoken with him on this very point4 ,they had congratulated him often on the wealth and happiness he enjoyed as an evidence of the great favour of the ,almighty4 ,in conversation they had remarked on case after case which seemed to prove1 beyond the shadow of doubt1 that if men reject ,god affliction and disaster invariably follow4 ,their idea of the scheme of things was very simple1 and1 on the whole1 it had never come into serious questioning4 ,of course human justice1 even when rudely administered1 and the practice of private revenge helped to fulfil their theory of ,divine government4 ,if any serious crime was committed1 those friendly to the injured person took up his cause and pursued the wrong-doer to inflict retribution upon him4 ,his dwelling was perhaps burned and his flocks dispersed1 he himself driven into a kind of exile4 ,the administration of law was rude1 yet the unwritten code of the desert made the evil-doer suffer and allowed the man of good character to enjoy life if he could4 ,these facts went to sustain the belief that ,god was always regulating a man's happiness by his deserts4 ,and beyond this1 apart altogether from what was done by men1 not a few accidents and calamities appeared to show ,divine judgment against wrong4 ,then1 as now1 it might be said that avenging forces lurk in the lightning1 the storm1 the pestilence1 forces which are directed against transgressors and cannot be evaded4 ,men would say1 ,yes1 though one hide his crimes1 though he escape for long the condemnation and punishment of his fellows1 yet the hand of ,god will find him3 and the prediction seemed always to be verified4 ,perhaps the stroke did not fall at once4 ,months might pass2 years might pass2 but the time came when they could affirm1 ,now righteousness has overtaken the offender2 his crime is rewarded2 his pride is brought low4 ,and if1 as happened occasionally1 the flocks of a man who was in good reputation died of murrain1 and his crops were blighted by the terrible hot wind of the desert1 they could always say1 ,ah6 we did not know all about him4 ,no doubt if we could look into his private life we should see why this has befallen4 ,so the barbarians of the island of ,melita1 when ,paul had been shipwrecked there1 seeing a viper fasten on his hand1 said1 ,no doubt this is a murderer whom1 though he hath escaped from the sea1 yet justice suffereth not to live4 ,thoughts like these were in the minds of the three friends of ,job1 very confounding indeed1 for they had never expected to shake their heads over him4 ,they accordingly deserve credit for true sympathy1 inasmuch as they refrained from saying anything that might hurt him4 ,his grief was great1 and it might be due to remorse4 ,his unparalleled afflictions put him1 as it were1 in sanctuary from taunts or even questionings4 ,he has done wrong1 he has not been what we thought him1 they said to themselves1 but he is drinking to the bitter dregs a cup of retribution4 ,but when ,job opened his mouth and spoke1 their sympathy was dashed with pious horror4 ,they had never in all their lives heard such words4 ,he seemed to prove himself far worse than they could have imagined4 ,he ought to have been meek and submissive4 ,some flaw there must have been3 what was it8 ,he should have confessed his sin instead of cursing life and reflecting on ,god4 ,their own silent suspicion1 indeed1 is the chief cause of his despair2 but this they do not understand4 ,amazed they hear him2 outraged1 they take up the challenge he offers4 ,one after another the three men reason with ,job1 from almost the same point of view1 suggesting first and then insisting that he should acknowledge fault and humble himself under the hand of a just and holy ,god4 ,now1 here is the motive of the long controversy which is the main subject of the poem4 ,and1 in tracing it1 we are to see ,job1 although racked by pain and distraught by grief--sadly at disadvantage because he seems to be a living example of the truth of their ideas--rousing himself to the defence of his integrity and contending for that as the only grip he has of ,god4 ,advance after advance is made by the three1 who gradually become more dogmatic as the controversy proceeds4 ,defence after defence is made by ,job1 who is driven to think himself challenged not only by his friends1 but sometimes also by ,god ,himself through them4 ,eliphaz1 ,bildad1 and ,zophar agree in the opinion that ,job has done evil and is suffering for it4 ,the language they use and the arguments they bring forward are much alike4 ,yet a difference will be found in their way of speaking1 and a vaguely suggested difference of character4 ,eliphaz gives us an impression of age and authority4 ,when ,job has ended his complaint1 ,eliphaz regards him with a disturbed and offended look4 ,how pitiful6 he seems to say2 but also1 ,how dreadful1 how unaccountable6 ,he desires to win ,job to a right view of things by kindly counsel2 but he talks pompously1 and preaches too much from the high moral bench4 ,bildad1 again1 is a dry and composed person4 ,he is less the man of experience than of tradition4 ,he does not speak of discoveries made in the course of his own observation2 but he has stored the sayings of the wise and reflected upon them4 ,when a thing is cleverly said he is satisfied1 and he cannot understand why his impressive statements should fail to convince and convert4 ,he is a gentleman1 like ,eliphaz1 and uses courtesy4 ,at first he refrains from wounding ,job's feelings4 ,yet behind his politeness is the sense of superior wisdom--the wisdom of ages1 and his own4 ,he is certainly a harder man than ,eliphaz4 ,lastly1 ,zophar is a blunt man with a decidedly rough1 dictatorial style4 ,he is impatient of the waste of words on a matter so plain1 and prides himself on coming to the point4 ,it is he who ventures to say definitely3 ,know therefore that ,god exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth1--a cruel speech from any point of view4 ,he is not so eloquent as ,eliphaz1 he has no air of a prophet4 ,compared with ,bildad he is less argumentative4 ,with all his sympathy--and he1 too1 is a friend--he shows an exasperation which he justifies by his zeal for the honour of ,god4 ,the differences are delicate1 but real1 and evident even to our late criticism4 ,in the author's day the characters would probably seem more distinctly contrasted than they appear to us4 ,still1 it must be owned1 each holds virtually the same position4 ,one prevailing school of thought is represented and in each figure attacked4 ,it is not difficult to imagine three speakers differing far more from each other4 ,for example1 instead of ,bildad we might have had a ,persian full of the ,zoroastrian ideas of two great powers1 the ,good ,spirit1 ,ahuramazda1 and the ,evil ,spirit1 ,ahriman4 ,such a one might have maintained that ,job had given himself to the ,evil ,spirit1 or that his revolt against providence would bring him under that destructive power and work his ruin4 ,and then1 instead of ,zophar1 one might have been set forward who maintained that good and evil make no difference1 that all things come alike to all1 that there is no ,god who cares for righteousness among men2 assailing ,job's faith in a more dangerous way4 ,but the writer has no such view of making a striking drama4 ,his circle of vision is deliberately chosen4 ,it is only what might appear to be true he allows his characters to advance4 ,one hears the breathings of the same dogmatism in the three voices4 ,all is said for the ordinary belief that can be said4 ,and three different men reason with ,job that it may be understood how popular1 how deeply rooted is the notion which the whole book is meant to criticise and disprove4 ,the dramatising is vague1 not at all of our sharp1 modern kind like that of ,ibsen1 throwing each figure into vivid contrast with every other4 ,all the author's concern is to give full play to the theory which holds the ground and to show its incompatibility with the facts of human life1 so that it may perish of its own hollowness4 ,nevertheless the first address to ,job is eloquent and poetically beautiful4 ,no rude arguer is ,eliphaz but one of the golden-mouthed1 mistaken in creed but not in heart1 a man whom ,job might well cherish as a friend4 ,i4 ,the first part of his speech extends to the eleventh verse4 ,with the respect due to sorrow1 putting aside the dismay caused by ,job's wild language1 he asks1 ,if one essay to commune with thee1 wilt thou be grieved8 ,it seems unpardonable to add to the sufferer's misery by saying what he has in his mind2 and yet--he cannot refrain4 ,who can withhold himself from speaking8 ,the state of ,job is such that there must be thorough and very serious communication4 ,eliphaz reminds him of what he had been--an instructor of the ignorant1 one who strengthened the weak1 upheld the falling1 confirmed the feeble4 ,was he not once so confident of himself1 so resolute and helpful that fainting men found him a bulwark against despair8 ,should he have changed so completely8 ,should one like him take to fruitless wailings and complaints8 ,now it cometh upon thee1 and thou faintest2 it toucheth thee1 and thou art confounded4 ,eliphaz does not mean to taunt4 ,it is in sorrow that he speaks1 pointing out the contrast between what was and is4 ,where is the strong faith of former days8 ,there is need for it1 and ,job ought to have it as his stay4 ,is not thy piety thy confidence8 ,thy hope1 is it not the integrity of thy ways8 ,why does he not look back and take courage8 ,pious fear of ,god1 if he allows himself to be guided by it1 will not fail to lead him again into the light4 ,it is a friendly and sincere effort to make the champion of ,god serve himself of his own faith4 ,the undercurrent of doubt is not allowed to appear4 ,eliphaz makes it a wonder that ,job had dropped his claim on the ,most ,high2 and he proceeds in a tone of expostulation1 amazed that a man who knew the way of the ,almighty should fall into the miserable weakness of the worst evil-doer4 ,poetically1 yet firmly1 the idea is introduced3-- ,bethink thee now1 who ever1 being innocent1 perished1 ,and where have the upright been destroyed8 ,as ,i have seen1 they who plough iniquity ,and sow disaster reap the same4 ,by the wrath of ,god they perish1 ,by the storm of ,his wrath they are undone4 ,roaring of the lion1 voice of the growling lion1 ,teeth of the young lions are broken2 ,the old lion perisheth for lack of prey1 ,the whelps of the lioness are scattered4 ,first among the things ,eliphaz has seen is the fate of those violent evil-doers who plough iniquity and sow disaster4 ,but ,job has not been like them and therefore has no need to fear the harvest of perdition4 ,he is among those who are not finally cut off4 ,in the tenth and eleventh verses the dispersion of a den of lions is the symbol of the fate of those who are hot in wickedness4 ,as in some cave of the mountains an old lion and lioness with their whelps dwell securely1 issuing forth at their will to seize the prey and make night dreadful with their growling1 so those evil-doers flourish for a time in hateful and malignant strength4 ,but as on a sudden the hunters1 finding the lions' retreat1 kill and scatter them1 young and old1 so the coalition of wicked men is broken up4 ,the rapacity of wild desert tribes appears to be reflected in the figure here used4 ,eliphaz may be referring to some incident which had actually occurred4 ,,ii4 ,in the second division of his address he endeavours to bring home to ,job a needed moral lesson by detailing a vision he once had and the oracle which came with it4 ,the account of the apparition is couched in stately and impressive language4 ,that chilling sense of fear which sometimes mingles with our dreams in the dead of night1 the sensation of a presence that cannot be realised1 something awful breathing over the face and making the flesh creep1 an imagined voice falling solemnly on the ear1--all are vividly described4 ,in the recollection of ,eliphaz the circumstances of the vision are very clear1 and the finest poetic skill is used in giving the whole solemn dream full justice and effect4 ,now a word was secretly brought me1 ,mine ear caught the whisper thereof2 ,in thoughts from visions of the night1 ,when deep sleep falls upon men1 ,a terror came on me1 and trembling ,which thrilled my bones to the marrow4 ,then a breath passed before my face1 ,the hairs of my body rose erect4 ,it stood still--its appearance ,i trace not4 ,an image is before mine eyes4 ,there was silence1 and ,i heard a voice-- ,shall man beside ,eloah be righteous8 ,or beside his ,maker shall man be clean8 ,we are made to feel here how extraordinary the vision appeared to ,eliphaz1 and1 at the same time1 how far short he comes of the seer's gift4 ,for what is this apparition8 ,nothing but a vague creation of the dreaming mind4 ,and what is the message8 ,no new revelation1 no discovery of an inspired soul4 ,after all1 only a fact quite familiar to pious thought4 ,the dream oracle has been generally supposed to continue to the end of the chapter4 ,but the question as to the righteousness of man and his cleanness beside ,god seems to be the whole of it1 and the rest is ,eliphaz's comment or meditation upon it1 his thoughts from visions of the night4 ,as to the oracle itself3 while the words may certainly bear translating so as to imply a direct comparison between the righteousness of man and the righteousness of ,god1 this is not required by the purpose of the writer1 as ,dr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson has shown4 ,in the form of a question it is impressively announced that with or beside the ,high ,god no weak man is righteous1 no strong man pure2 and this is sufficient1 for the aim of ,eliphaz is to show that troubles may justly come on ,job1 as on others1 because all are by nature imperfect4 ,no doubt the oracle might transcend the scope of the argument4 ,still the question has not been raised by ,job's criticism of providence1 whether he reckons himself more just than ,god2 and apart from that any comparison seems unnecessary1 meeting no mood of human revolt of which ,eliphaz has ever heard4 ,the oracle1 then1 is practically of the nature of a truism1 and1 as such1 agrees with the dream vision and the impalpable ghost1 a dim presentation by the mind to itself of what a visitor from the higher world might be4 ,shall any created being1 inheritor of human defects1 stand beside ,eloah1 clean in ,his sight8 ,impossible4 ,for1 however sincere and earnest any one may be toward ,god and in the service of men1 he cannot pass the fallibility and imperfection of the creature4 ,the thought thus solemnly announced1 ,eliphaz proceeds to amplify in a prophetic strain1 which1 however1 does not rise above the level of good poetry4 ,behold1 ,he putteth no trust in ,his servants4 ,nothing that the best of them have to do is committed entirely to them2 the supervision of ,eloah is always maintained that their defects may not mar ,his purpose4 ,his angels ,he chargeth with error4 ,even the heavenly spirits1 if we are to trust ,eliphaz1 go astray2 they are under a law of discipline and holy correction4 ,in the ,supreme ,light they are judged and often found wanting4 ,to credit this to a ,divine oracle would be somewhat disconcerting to ordinary theological ideas4 ,but the argument is clear enough1--,if even the angelic servants of ,god require the constant supervision of ,his wisdom and their faults need ,his correction1 much more do men whose bodies are houses of clay1 whose foundation is in the dust1 who are crushed before the moth--that is1 the moth which breeds corrupting worms4 ,from morning to evening they are destroyed--in a single day their vigour and beauty pass into decay4 ,without observance they perish for ever1 says ,eliphaz4 ,clearly this is not a word of ,divine prophecy4 ,it would place man beneath the level of moral judgment1 as a mere earth-creature whose life and death are of no account even to ,god4 ,men go their way when a comrade falls1 and soon forget4 ,true enough4 ,but ,one higher than the highest regardeth4 ,the stupidity or insensibility of most men to spiritual things is in contrast to the attention and judgment of ,god4 ,the description of man's life on earth1 its brevity and dissolution1 on account of which he can never exalt himself as just and clean beside ,god1 ends with words that may be translated thus3-- ,is not their cord torn asunder in them8 ,they shall die1 and not in wisdom4 ,here the tearing up of the tent cord or the breaking of the bow-string is an image of the snapping of that chain of vital functions1 the silver cord1 on which the bodily life depends4 ,the argument of ,eliphaz1 so far1 has been1 first1 that ,job1 as a pious man1 should have kept his confidence in ,god1 because he was not like those who plough iniquity and sow disaster and have no hope in ,divine mercy2 next1 that before the ,most ,high all are more or less unrighteous and impure1 so that if ,job suffers for defect1 he is no exception1 his afflictions are not to be wondered at4 ,and this carries the further thought that he ought to be conscious of fault and humble himself under the ,divine hand4 ,just at this point ,eliphaz comes at last within sight of the right way to find ,job's heart and conscience4 ,the corrective discipline which all need was safe ground to take with one who could not have denied in the last resort that he1 too1 had ,sins of will1 ,defects of doubt and taints of blood4 ,this strain of argument1 however1 closes1 ,eliphaz having much in his mind which has not found expression and is of serious import4 ,,iii4 ,the speaker sees that ,job is impatient of the sufferings which make life appear useless to him4 ,but suppose he appealed to the saints--holy ones1 or angels--to take his part1 would that be of any use8 ,in his cry from the depth he had shown resentment and hasty passion4 ,these do not insure1 they do not deserve help4 ,the holy ones would not respond to a man so unreasonable and indignant4 ,on the contrary1 resentment slayeth the foolish man1 passion killeth the silly4 ,what ,job had said in his outcry only tended to bring on him the fatal stroke of ,god4 ,having caught at this idea1 ,eliphaz proceeds in a manner rather surprising4 ,he has been shocked by ,job's bitter words4 ,the horror he felt returns upon him1 and he falls into a very singular and inconsiderate strain of remark4 ,he does not1 indeed1 identify his old friend with the foolish man whose destruction he proceeds to paint4 ,but an instance has occurred to him--a bit of his large experience--of one who behaved in a godless1 irrational way and suffered for it2 and for ,job's warning1 because he needs to take home the lesson of the catastrophe1 ,eliphaz details the story4 ,forgetting the circumstances of his friend1 utterly forgetting that the man lying before him has lost all his children and that robbers have swallowed his substance1 absorbed in his own reminiscence to the exclusion of every other thought1 ,eliphaz goes deliberately through a whole roll of disasters so like ,job's that every word is a poisoned arrow3-- ,plead then3 will any one answer thee2 ,and to which of the holy ones wilt thou turn8 ,nay1 resentment killeth the fool1 ,and hasty indignation slayeth the silly4 ,i myself have seen a godless fool take root2 ,yet straightway ,i cursed his habitation3-- ,his children are far from succour1 ,they are crushed in the gate without deliverer3 ,while the hungry eats up his harvest ,and snatches it even out of the thorns1 ,and the snare gapes for their substance4 ,the desolation he saw come suddenly1 even when the impious man had just taken root as founder of a family1 ,eliphaz declares to be a curse from the ,most ,high2 and he describes it with much force4 ,upon the children of the household disaster falls at the gate or place of judgment2 there is no one to plead for them1 because the father is marked for the vengeance of ,god4 ,predatory tribes from the desert devour first the crops in the remoter fields1 and then those protected by the thorn hedge near the homestead4 ,the man had been an oppressor2 now those he had oppressed are under no restraint1 and all he has is swallowed up without redress4 ,so much for the third attempt to convict ,job and bring him to confession4 ,it is a bolt shot apparently at a venture1 yet it strikes where it must wound to the quick4 ,here1 however1 made aware1 perhaps by a look of anguish or a sudden gesture1 that he has gone too far1 ,eliphaz draws back4 ,to the general dogma that affliction is the lot of every human being he returns1 that the sting may be taken out of his words3-- ,for disaster cometh not forth from the dust1 ,and out of the ground trouble springeth not2 ,but man is born unto trouble ,as the sparks fly upward4 ,by this vague piece of moralising1 which sheds no light on anything1 ,eliphaz betrays himself4 ,he shows that he is not anxious to get at the root of the matter4 ,the whole subject of pain and calamity is external to him1 not a part of his own experience4 ,he would speak very differently if he were himself deprived of all his possessions and laid low in trouble4 ,as it is he can turn glibly from one thought to another1 as if it mattered not which fits the case4 ,in fact1 as he advances and retreats we discover that he is feeling his way1 aiming first at one thing1 then at another1 in the hope that this or that random arrow may hit the mark4 ,no man is just beside ,god4 ,job is like the rest1 crushed before the moth4 ,job has spoken passionately1 in wild resentment4 ,is he then among the foolish whose habitation is cursed8 ,but again1 lest that should not be true1 the speaker falls back on the common lot of men1 born to trouble--why1 ,god alone can tell4 ,afterwards he makes another suggestion4 ,is not ,god ,he who frustrates the devices of the crafty and confounds the cunning1 so that they grope in the blaze of noon as if it were night8 ,if the other explanations did not apply to ,job's condition1 perhaps this would4 ,at all events something might be said by way of answer that would give an inkling of the truth4 ,at last the comparatively kind and vague explanation is offered1 that ,job suffers from the chastening of the ,lord1 who1 though ,he afflicts1 is also ready to heal4 ,glancing at all possibilities which occur to him1 ,eliphaz leaves the afflicted man to accept that which happens to come home4 ,,iv4 ,eloquence1 literary skill1 sincerity1 mark the close of this address4 ,it is the argument of a man who is anxious to bring his friend to a right frame of mind so that his latter days may be peace4 ,as for me1 he says1 hinting what ,job should do1 ,i would turn to ,god1 and set my expectation upon the ,highest4 ,then he proceeds to give his thoughts on ,divine providence4 ,unsearchable1 wonderful are the doings of ,god4 ,he is the ,rain-giver for the thirsty fields and desert pastures4 ,among men1 too1 ,he makes manifest ,his power1 exalting those who are lowly1 and restoring the joy of the mourners4 ,crafty men1 who plot to make their own way1 oppose ,his sovereign power in vain4 ,they are stricken as if with blindness4 ,out of their hand the helpless are delivered1 and hope is restored to the feeble4 ,has ,job been crafty8 ,has he been in secret a plotter against the peace of men8 ,is it for this reason ,god has cast him down8 ,let him repent1 and he shall yet be saved4 ,for ,happy is the man whom ,eloah correcteth1 ,therefore spurn not thou the chastening of ,shaddai4 ,for ,he maketh sore and bindeth up2 ,he smiteth1 but ,his hands make whole4 ,in six straits ,he will deliver thee2 ,in seven also shall not evil touch thee4 ,in famine ,he will rescue thee from death1 ,and in war from the power of the sword4 ,when the tongue smiteth thou shalt be hid2 ,nor shalt thou fear when desolation cometh4 ,at destruction and famine thou shalt laugh2 ,and of the beasts of the earth shalt not be afraid4 ,for with the stones of the field shall be thy covenant2 ,with thee shall the beasts of the field be at peace4 ,so shalt thou find that thy tent is secure1 ,and surveying thy homestead thou shalt miss nothing4 ,thou shalt find that thy seed are many1 ,and thy offspring like the grass of the earth2 ,thou shalt come to thy grave with white hair1 ,as a ripe shock of corn is carried home in its season4 ,behold6 ,this we have searched out3 thus it is4 ,hear it1 and1 thou1 consider it for thyself6 ,fine1 indeed1 as dramatic poetry2 but is it not1 as reasoning1 incoherent8 ,the author does not mean it to be convincing4 ,he who is chastened and receives the chastening may not be saved in those six troubles1 yea seven4 ,there is more of dream than fact4 ,eliphaz is apparently right in everything1 as ,dillmann says2 but right only on the surface4 ,he has seen--that they who plough iniquity and sow disaster reap the same4 ,he has seen--a vision of the night1 and received a message2 a sign of ,god's favour that almost made him a prophet4 ,he has seen--a fool or impious man taking root1 but was not deceived2 he knew what would be the end1 and took upon him to curse judicially the doomed homestead4 ,he has seen--the crafty confounded4 ,he has seen--the man whom ,god corrected1 who received his chastisement with submission1 rescued and restored to honour4 ,lo1 this we have searched out1 he says2 it is even thus4 ,but the piety and orthodoxy of the good ,eliphaz do not save him from blunders at every turn4 ,and to the clearing of ,job's position he offers no suggestion of value4 ,what does he say to throw light on the condition of a believing1 earnest servant of the ,almighty who is always poor1 always afflicted1 who meets disappointment after disappointment1 and is pursued by sorrow and disaster even to the grave8 ,the religion of ,eliphaz is made for well-to-do people like himself1 and such only4 ,if it were true that1 because all are sinful before ,god1 affliction and pain are punishments of sin1 and a man is happy in receiving this ,divine correction1 why is ,eliphaz himself not lying like ,job upon a heap of ashes1 racked with the torment of disease8 ,good orthodox prosperous man1 he thinks himself a prophet1 but he is none4 ,were he tried like ,job he would be as unreasonable and passionate1 as wild in his declamation against life1 as eager for death4 ,useless in religion is all mere talk that only skims the surface1 however often the terms of it may be repeated1 however widely they find acceptance4 ,the creed that breaks down at any point is no creed for a rational being4 ,infidelity in our day is very much the consequence of crude notions about ,god that contradict each other1 notions of the atonement1 of the meaning of suffering1 of the future life1 that are incoherent1 childish1 of no practical weight4 ,people think they have a firm grasp of the truth2 but when circumstances occur which are at variance with their preconceived ideas1 they turn away from religion1 or their religion makes the facts of life appear worse for them4 ,it is the result of insufficient thought4 ,research must go deeper1 must return with new zeal to the study of ,scripture and the life of ,christ4 ,god's revelation in providence and ,christianity is one4 ,it has a profound coherency1 the stamp and evidence of its truth4 ,the rigidity of natural law has its meaning for us in our study of the spiritual life4 ,,viii4 ,,men ,,false3 ,,god ,,overbearing4 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 vi41 vii4 ,worst to endure of all things is the grief that preys on a man's own heart because no channel outside self is provided for the hot stream of thought4 ,now that ,eliphaz has spoken1 ,job has something to arouse him1 at least to resentment4 ,the strength of his mind revives as he finds himself called to a battle of words4 ,and how energetic he is6 ,the long address of ,eliphaz we saw to be incoherent1 without the backbone of any clear conviction1 turning hither and thither in the hope of making some way or other a happy hit4 ,but as soon as ,job begins to speak there is coherency1 strong thought running through the variety of expression1 the anxiety for instruction1 the sense of bewilderment and trouble4 ,we feel at once that we are in contact with a mind no half-truths can satisfy1 that will go with whatever difficulty to the very bottom of the matter4 ,supreme mark of a healthy nature1 this4 ,people are apt to praise a mind at peace1 moving composedly from thought to thought1 content to enjoy the things which others understand1 not distressed by moral questions4 ,but minds enjoying such peace are only to be praised if the philosophy of life has been searched out and tried1 and the great trust in ,god which resolves all doubt has been found4 ,while life and providence1 one's own history and the history of the world present what appear to be contradictions1 problems that baffle and disturb the soul1 how can a healthy mind be at rest8 ,our intellectual powers are not given simply that we may enjoy2 they are given that we may understand4 ,a mind hungers for knowledge1 as a body for food1 and cannot be satisfied unless the reason and the truth of things are seen4 ,you may object that some are not capable of understanding1 that indeed ,divine providence1 the great purposes of ,god1 lie so far and so high beyond the ordinary human range as to be incomprehensible to most of us4 ,of what use1 then1 is revelation8 ,is it given merely to bewilder us1 to lead us on in a quest which at the last must leave many of the searchers unsatisfied1 without light or hope8 ,if so1 the ,bible mocks us1 the prophets were deceivers1 even ,christ ,himself is found no ,light of the world1 but a dreamer who spoke of that which can never be realised4 ,not thus do ,i begin in doubt1 and end in doubt4 ,there are things beyond me2 but exact or final knowledge of these is not necessary4 ,within my range and reach through nature and religion1 through the ,bible and the ,son of ,god1 are the principles ,i need to satisfy my soul's hunger4 ,and in every healthy mind there will be desire for truth which1 often baffled1 will continue till understanding comes4 ,and here we join issue with the agnostic1 who denies this vital demand of the soul4 ,our thought dwelling on life and all its varied experience--sorrow and fear1 misery and hope1 love threatened by death yet unquenchable1 the exultation of duty1 the baffling of ambition1 unforeseen peril and unexpected deliverance--our thought1 ,i say1 dealing with these elements of life1 will not rest in the notion that all is due to chance or to blind forces1 that evolution can never be intelligently followed4 ,the modern atheist or agnostic falls into the very error for which he used to reprove faith when he contemptuously bids us get rid of the hope of understanding the world and the ,power directing it1 when he invites us to remember our limitations and occupy ourselves with things within our range4 ,religion used to be taunted with crippling man's faculties and denying full play to his mental activity4 ,scientific unbelief does so now4 ,it restricts us to the seen and temporal1 and1 if consistent1 ought to refuse all ideals and all desires for a perfect state4 ,the modern sage1 intent on the study of material things and their changes1 confining himself to what can be seen1 heard1 touched1 or by instruments analysed1 may have nothing but scorn or1 say1 pity for one who cries out of trouble-- ,have ,i sinned8 ,yet1 what have ,i done unto ,thee1 ,o ,thou ,watcher of men8 ,why hast ,thou set me as ,thy stumbling-block1 ,so that ,i am a burden to myself8 ,and why wilt ,thou not pardon my transgression1 ,and cause my sin to pass away8 ,but the man whose soul is eager in the search for reality must endeavour to wrest from ,heaven itself the secret of his dissatisfaction with the real1 his conflict with the real1 and why he must so often suffer from the very forces that sustain his life4 ,yes1 the passion of the soul continues4 ,it protests against darkness1 and therefore against materialism4 ,conscious mind presses toward an origin of thought4 ,soul must find a ,divine ,eternal ,soul4 ,where nature opens ascending ways to the reason in its quest2 where prophets and sages have cut paths here and there through the forest of mystery2 where the brave and true testify of a light they have seen and invite us to follow2 where ,one stands high and radiant above the cross on which ,he suffered and declares ,himself the ,resurrection and the ,life1--there men will advance1 feeling themselves inspired to maintain the search for that ,eternal ,truth without the hope of which all our life here is a wearisome pageant1 a troubled dream1 a bitter slavery4 ,in his reply to ,eliphaz1 ,job first takes hold of the charge of impatience and hasty indignation made in the opening of the fifth chapter4 ,he is quite aware that his words were rash when he cursed his day and cried impatiently for death4 ,in accusing him of rebellious passion1 ,eliphaz had shot the only arrow that went home2 and now ,job1 conscientious here1 pulls out the arrow to show it and the wound4 ,oh1 he cries1 that my hasty passion were duly weighed1 and my misery were laid in the balance against it6 ,for then would it1 my misery1 be found heavier than the sand of the seas3 therefore have my words been rash4 ,he is almost deprecatory4 ,yes3 he will admit the impatience and vehemence with which he spoke4 ,but then1 had ,eliphaz duly considered his state1 the weight of his trouble causing a physical sense of indescribable oppression8 ,let his friends look at him again1 a man prostrated with sore disease and grief1 dying slowly in the leper's exile4 ,the arrows of the ,almighty are within me1 ,the poison whereof my spirit drinketh up4 ,the terrors of ,god beleaguer me4 ,we need not fall into the mistake of supposing that it is only the pain of his disease which makes ,job's misery so heavy4 ,rather is it that his troubles have come from ,god2 they are the arrows of the ,almighty4 ,mere suffering and loss1 even to the extremity of death1 he could have borne without a murmur4 ,but he had thought ,god to be his friend4 ,why on a sudden have those darts been launched against him by the hand he trusted8 ,what does the ,almighty mean8 ,the evil-doer who suffers knows why he is afflicted4 ,the martyr enduring for conscience' sake has his support in the truth to which he bears witness1 the holy cause for which he dies4 ,job has no explanation1 no support4 ,he cannot understand providence4 ,the ,god with whom he supposed himself to be at peace suddenly becomes an angry incomprehensible ,power1 blighting and destroying ,his servant's life4 ,existence poisoned1 the couch of ashes encompassed with terrors1 is it any wonder that passionate words break from his lips8 ,a cry is the last power left to him4 ,so it is with many4 ,the seeming needlessness of their sufferings1 the impossibility of tracing these to any cause in their past history1 in a word1 the mystery of the pain confounds the mind1 and adds to anguish and desolation an unspeakable horror of darkness4 ,sometimes the very thing guarded against is that which happens2 a man's best intelligence appears confuted by destiny or chance4 ,why has he amongst the many been chosen for this8 ,do all things come alike to all1 righteous and wicked8 ,the problem becomes terribly acute in the case of earnest ,god-fearing men and women who have not yet found the real theory of suffering4 ,endurance for others does not always explain4 ,all cannot be rested on that4 ,nor unless we speak falsely for ,god will it avail to say1 ,these afflictions have fallen on us for our sins4 ,for even if the conscience does not give the lie to that assertion1 as ,job's conscience did1 the question demands a clear answer why the penitent should suffer1 those who believe1 to whom ,god imputes no iniquity4 ,if it is for our transgressions we suffer1 either our own faith and religion are vain1 or ,god does not forgive excepting in form1 and the law of punishment retains its force4 ,we have here the serious difficulty that legal fictions seem to hold their ground even in the dealings of the ,most ,high with those who trust ,him4 ,many are in the direst trouble still for the same reason as ,job1 and might use his very words4 ,taught to believe that suffering is invariably connected with wrong-doing and is always in proportion to it1 they cannot find in their past life any great transgressions for which they should be racked with constant pain or kept in grinding penury and disappointment4 ,moreover1 they had imagined that through the mediation of ,christ their sins were expiated and their guilt blotted out4 ,what strange error is there in the creed or in the world8 ,have they never believed8 ,has ,god turned against them8 ,so they inquire in the darkness4 ,the truth1 however1 as shown in a previous chapter1 is that suffering has no proportion to the guilt of sin1 but is related in the scheme of ,divine providence to life in this world1 its movement1 discipline1 and perfecting in the individual and the race4 ,afflictions1 pains1 and griefs are appointed to the best as well as the worst1 because all need to be tried and urged on from imperfect faith and spirituality to vigour1 constancy1 and courage of soul4 ,the principle is not clearly stated in the ,book of ,job1 but underlies it1 as truth must underlie all genuine criticism and every faithful picture of human life4 ,the inspiration of the poem is so to present the facts of human experience that the real answer alone can satisfy4 ,and in the speech we are now considering some imperfect and mistaken views are swept so completely aside that their survival is almost unaccountable4 ,beginning with the fifth verse we have a series of questions somewhat difficult to interpret3-- ,doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass8 ,or loweth the ox over his fodder8 ,can that be eaten which is unsavoury1 without salt8 ,or is there any taste in the white of an egg8 ,my soul refuseth to touch them2 ,they are to me as mouldy bread4 ,by some these questions are supposed to describe sarcastically the savourless words of ,eliphaz1 his solemn and impertinent prosing4 ,this1 however1 would break the continuity of the thought4 ,another view makes the reference to be to ,job's afflictions1 which he is supposed to compare to insipid and loathsome food4 ,but it seems quite unnatural to take this as the meaning4 ,such pain and grief and loss as he had undergone were certainly not like the white of an egg4 ,but he has already spoken wildly1 unreasonably1 and he now feels himself to be on the point of breaking out afresh in similar impatient language4 ,now1 the wild ass does not complain when it has grass1 nor the ox when it has fodder2 so1 if his mind were supplied with necessary explanations of the sore troubles he is enduring1 he would not be impatient1 he would not complain4 ,his soul hungers to know the reasons of the calamities that darken his life4 ,nothing that has been said helps him4 ,every suggestion presented to his mind is either trifling and vain1 without the salt of wisdom1 like the white of an egg1 or offensive1 disagreeable4 ,ruthlessly sincere1 he will not pretend to be satisfied when he is not4 ,his soul refuses to touch the offered explanations and reasons4 ,verily1 they are like mouldy bread to him4 ,it is his own impatience1 his loud cries and inquiries1 he desires to account for2 he does not attack ,eliphaz with sarcasm1 but defends himself4 ,at this point there is a brief halt in the speech4 ,as if after a pause1 due to a sharp sting of pain1 ,job exclaims3 ,oh that ,god would please to destroy me6 ,he had felt the paroxysm approaching2 he had endeavoured to restrain himself1 but the torture drives him1 as before1 to cry for death4 ,again and again in the course of his speeches sudden turns of this kind occur1 points at which the dramatic feeling of the writer comes out4 ,he will have us remember the terrible disease and keep continually in mind the setting of the thoughts4 ,job had roused himself in beginning his reply1 and1 for a little1 eagerness had overcome pain4 ,but now he falls back1 mastered by cruel sickness which appears to be unto death4 ,then he speaks3-- ,oh that ,i might have my request1 ,that ,god would give me the thing ,i long for1 ,even that ,god would be pleased to crush me1 ,that ,he would loose ,his hand and tear me off2 ,and ,i should yet have comfort1 ,i should even exult amidst unsparing pain1 ,for ,i have not denied the words of the ,holy ,one4 ,the longing for death which now returns on ,job is not so passionate as before2 but his cry is quite as urgent and unqualified4 ,as we have already seen1 no motion towards suicide is at any point of the drama attributed to him4 ,he does not1 like ,shakespeare's ,hamlet1 whose position is in some respects very similar1 question with himself1 ,whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer ,the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune1 ,or to take arms against a sea of troubles1 ,and by opposing end them8 ,nor may we say that ,job is deterred from the act of self-destruction by ,hamlet's thought1 ,the dread of something after death that makes us rather bear those ills we have ,than fly to others that we know not of4 ,job has the fear and faith of ,god still1 and not even the pressure of unsparing pain can move him to take into his own hands the ending of that torment ,god bids him bear4 ,he is too pious even to dream of it4 ,a true ,oriental1 with strong belief that the will of ,god must be done1 he could die without a murmur1 in more than stoical courage2 but a suicide he cannot be4 ,and indeed the ,bible1 telling us for the most part of men of healthy mind1 has few suicides to record4 ,saul1 ,zimri1 ,ahithophel1 ,judas1 break away thus from dishonour and doom2 but these are all who1 in impatience and cowardice1 turn against ,god's decree of life4 ,here1 then1 the strong religious feeling of the writer obliges him to reject that which the poets of the world have used to give the strongest effect to their work4 ,from the ,greek dramatists1 through ,shakespeare to ,browning1 the drama is full of that quarrel with life which flies to suicide4 ,in this great play1 as we may well call it1 of ,semitic faith and genius1 the ideas are masterly1 the hold of universal truth is sublime4 ,perhaps the author was not fully aware of all he suggests1 but he feels that suicide serves no end3 it settles nothing2 and his problem must be settled4 ,suicide is an attempt at evasion in a sphere where evasion is impossible4 ,god and the soul have a controversy together1 and the controversy must be worked out to an issue4 ,job has not cursed ,god nor denied his words4 ,with this clear conscience he is not afraid to die2 yet1 to keep it1 he must wait on the decision of the ,almighty--that it would please ,god to crush him1 or tear him off like a branch from the tree of life4 ,the prospect of death1 if it were granted by ,god1 would revive him for the last moment of endurance4 ,he would leap up to meet the stroke1 ,god's stroke1 the pledge that ,god was kind to him after all4 ,where he stands1 the ,arch ,fear in a visible form1 ,yet the strong man must go3 ,for the journey is done and the summit attained1 ,and the barriers fall1 ,though a battle's to fight ere the guerdon be gained1 ,the reward of it all4444 ,i would hate that death bandaged my eyes1 and forbore1 ,and bade me creep past4 ,according to ,eliphaz there was but one way for a sufferer4 ,if ,job would bow humbly in acknowledgment of guilt1 and seek ,god in penitence1 then recovery would come2 the hand that smote would heal and set him on high2 all the joy and vigour of life would be renewed1 and after another long course of prosperity1 he should come to his grave at last as a shock of corn is carried home in its season4 ,recalling this glib promise1 ,job puts it from him as altogether incongruous with his state4 ,he is a leper2 he is dying4 ,what is my strength that ,i should wait1 ,and what my term that ,i should be patient8 ,is my strength the strength of stones8 ,is my flesh brass8 ,is not my help within me gone1 ,and energy quite driven from me8 ,why1 his condition is hopeless4 ,what can he look for but death8 ,speak to him of a new term2 it was adding mockery to despair4 ,but he would die still true to ,god1 and therefore he seeks the end of conflict4 ,if he were to live on he could not be sure of himself1 especially when1 with failing strength1 he had to endure the nausea and stings of disease4 ,as yet he can face death as a chief should4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the second part of the address begins at the fourteenth verse of chap4 vi4 ,here ,job rouses himself anew1 and this time to assail his friends4 ,the language of their spokesman had been addressed to him from a height of assumed moral superiority1 and this had stirred in ,job a resentment quite natural4 ,no doubt the three friends showed friendliness4 ,he could not forget the long journey they had made to bring him comfort4 ,but when he bethought him how in his prosperity he had often entertained these men1 held high discourse with them on the ways of ,god1 opened his heart and showed them all his life1 he marvelled that now they could fail of the thing he most wanted--understanding4 ,the knowledge they had of him should have made suspicion impossible1 for they had the testimony of his whole life4 ,the author is not unfair to his champions of orthodoxy4 ,they fail where all such have a way of failing4 ,if their victim in the poem presses on to stinging sarcasm and at last oversteps the bounds of fair criticism1 one need not wonder4 ,he is not intended as a type of the meek1 self-depreciating person who lets slander pass without a protest4 ,if they have treated him badly1 he will tell them to their faces what he thinks4 ,their want of justice might cause a weak man to slip and lose himself4 ,pity from his friend is due to the despairing1 ,lest he forsake the fear of the ,almighty3 ,but my brethren have deceived as a torrent1 ,like the streams of the ravine1 that pass away1 ,that become blackish with ice1 ,in which the snow is dissolved4 ,what time they wax warm they vanish1 ,when it is hot they are dried up out of their place4 ,the caravans turn aside1 ,they go up into the desert and are perishing4 ,the caravans of ,tema look out1 ,the merchants of ,sheba hope for them4 ,they were ashamed because they had trusted1 ,they came up to them and blushed4 ,even so1 now are ye nought4 ,the poetical genius of the writer overflows here4 ,the allegory is beautiful1 the wit keen1 the knowledge abundant2 yet1 in a sense1 we have to pardon the interposition4 ,job is not quite in the mood to represent his disappointment by such an elaborate picture4 ,he would naturally seek a sharper mode of expression4 ,still1 the passage must not be judged by our modern dramatic rules4 ,this is the earliest example of the philosophic story1 and elaborate word-pictures are part of the literature of the piece4 ,we accept the pleasure of following a description which ,job must be supposed to have painted in melancholy humour4 ,the scene is in the desert1 several days' journey from the ,jauf1 that valley already identified as the region in which ,job lived4 ,beyond the ,nefood to the west towers the ,jebel ,tobeyk1 a high ridge covered in winter with deep snow1 the melting of which fills the ravines with roaring streams4 ,caravans are coming across the desert from ,tema1 which lies seven days' journey to the south of the ,jauf1 and from ,sheba still farther in the same direction4 ,they are on the march in early summer and1 falling short of water1 turn aside westward to one of the ravines where a stream is expected to be still flowing4 ,but1 alas for the vain hope6 ,in the wadi is nothing but stones and dry sand1 mocking the thirst of man and beast4 ,even so1 says ,job to his friends1 ye are treacherous2 ye are nothing4 ,i looked for the refreshing water of sympathy1 but ye are empty ravines1 dry sand4 ,in my days of prosperity you gushed with friendliness4 ,now1 when ,i thirst1 ye have not even pity4 ,ye see a terror1 and are afraid4 ,i am terribly stricken4 ,you fear that if you sympathised with me1 you might provoke the anger of ,god4 ,from this point he turns upon them with reproach4 ,had he asked them for anything1 gifts out of their herds or treasure1 aid in recovering his property8 ,they knew he had requested no such service4 ,but again and again ,eliphaz had made the suggestion that he was suffering as a wrong-doer4 ,would they tell him then1 straightforwardly1 how and when he had transgressed8 ,how forcible are words of uprightness1 words that go right to a point2 but as for their reproving1 what did it come to8 ,they had caught at his complaint4 ,men of experience should know that the talk of a desperate man is for the wind1 to be blown away and forgotten1 not to be laid hold of captiously4 ,and here from sarcasm he passes to invective4 ,their temper1 he tells them1 is so hard and unfeeling that they are fit to cast lots over the orphan and bargain over a friend4 ,they would be guilty even of selling for a slave a poor fatherless child cast on their charity4 ,be pleased to look on me1 he cries2 ,i surely will not lie to your face4 ,return1 let not wrong be done4 ,go back over my life4 ,let there be no unfairness4 ,still is my cause just4 ,they were bound to admit that he was as able to distinguish right from wrong as they were4 ,if that were not granted1 then his whole life went for nothing1 and their friendship also4 ,in this vivid eager expostulation there is at least much of human nature4 ,it abounds in natural touches common to all time and in shrewd ironic perception4 ,the sarcasms of ,job bear not only upon his friends1 but also upon our lives4 ,the words of men who are sorely tossed with trouble1 aye even their deeds1 are to be judged with full allowance for circumstances4 ,a man driven back inch by inch in a fight with the world1 irritated by defeat1 thwarted in his plans1 missing his calculations1 how easy is it to criticise him from the standpoint of a successful career1 high repute1 a good balance at the banker's6 ,the hasty words of one who is in sore distress1 due possibly to his own ignorance and carelessness1 how easy to reckon them against him1 find in them abundant proof that he is an unbeliever and a knave1 and so pass on to offer in the temple the ,pharisee's prayer6 ,but1 easy and natural1 it is base4 ,the author of our poem does well to lay the lash of his inspired scorn upon such a temper4 ,he who stores in memory the quick words of a sufferer and brings them up by and by to prove him deserving of all his troubles1 such a man would cast lots over the orphan4 ,it is no unfair charge4 ,oh for humane feeling1 gentle truth1 self-searching fear of falsehood6 ,it is so easy to be hard and pious4 99 99 99 99 99 ,beginning another strophe ,job turns from his friends1 from would-be wise assertions and innuendoes1 to find1 if he can1 a philosophy of human life1 then to reflect once more in sorrow on his state1 and finally to wrestle in urgent entreaty with the ,most ,high4 ,the seventh chapter1 in which we trace this line of thought1 increases in pathos as it proceeds and rises to the climax of a most daring demand which is not blasphemous because it is entirely frank1 profoundly earnest4 ,the friends of ,job have wondered at his sufferings4 ,he himself has tried to find the reason of them4 ,now he seeks it again in a survey of man's life3-- ,hath not man war service on earth8 ,and as the days of an hireling are not his8 ,the thought of necessity is coming over ,job1 that man is not his own master2 that a ,power he cannot resist appoints his task1 whether of action or endurance1 to fight in the hot battle or to suffer wearily4 ,and there is truth in the conception2 only it is a truth which is inspiring or depressing as the ultimate ,power is found in noble character or mindless force4 ,in the time of prosperity this thought of an inexorable decree would have caused no perplexity to ,job1 and his judgment would have been that the ,irresistible is wise and kind4 ,but now1 because the shadow has fallen1 all appears in gloomy colour1 and man's life a bitter servitude4 ,as a slave1 panting for the shade1 longing to have his work over1 ,job considers man4 ,during months of vanity and nights of weariness he waits1 long nights made dreary with pain1 through the slow hours of which he tosses to and fro in misery4 ,his flesh is clothed with worms and an earthy crust1 his skin hardens and breaks out4 ,his days are flimsier than a web 7ver4 #f71 and draw to a close without hope4 ,the wretchedness masters him1 and he cries to ,god4 ,o remember1 a breath is my life2 ,never again will mine eye see good4 ,does the ,almighty consider how little time is left to him8 ,surely a gleam might break before all grows dark6 ,out of sight he will be soon1 yea1 out of the sight of ,god ,himself1 like a cloud that melts away4 ,his place will be down in ,sheol1 the region of mere existence1 not of life1 where a man's being dissolves in shadows and dreams4 ,god must know this is coming to ,job4 ,yet in anguish1 ere he die1 he will remonstrate with his ,maker3 ,i will not curb my mouth1 ,i will make my complaint in the bitterness of my soul4 ,striking indeed is the remonstrance that follows4 ,a struggle against that belief in grim fate which has so injured ,oriental character gives vehemence to his appeal2 for ,god must not be lost4 ,his mind is represented as going abroad to find in nature what is most ungovernable and may be supposed to require most surveillance and restraint4 ,by change after change1 stroke after stroke1 his power has been curbed2 till at last1 in abject impotence1 he lies1 a wreck upon the wayside4 ,nor is he allowed the last solace of nature in extremis2 he is not unconscious2 he cannot sleep away his misery4 ,by night tormenting dreams haunt him1 and visions make as it were a terrible wall against him4 ,he exists on sufferance1 perpetually chafed4 ,with all this in his consciousness1 he asks1-- ,am ,i a sea1 or a sea-monster1 ,that thou keepest watch over me8 ,in a daring figure he imagines the ,most ,high who sets a bound to the sea exercising the same restraint over him1 or barring his way as if he were some huge monster of the deep4 ,a certain grim humour characterises the picture4 ,his friends have denounced his impetuosity4 ,is it as fierce in ,god's sight8 ,can his rage be so wild8 ,strange indeed is the restraint put on one conscious of having sought to serve ,god and his age4 ,in self-pity1 with an inward sense of the absurdity of the notion1 he fancies the ,almighty fencing his squalid couch with the horrible dreams and spectres of delirium1 barring his way as if he were a raging flood4 ,i loathe life1 he cries2 ,i would not live always4 ,let me alone1 for my days are a vapour4 ,do not pain me and hem me in with ,thy terrors that allow no freedom1 no hope1 nothing but a weary sense of impotence4 ,and then his expostulation becomes even bolder4 ,what is man1 asks a psalmist1 that ,thou art mindful of him1 and the son of man1 that ,thou visitest him8 ,with amazement ,god's thought of so puny and insignificant a being is observed4 ,but ,job1 marking in like manner the littleness of man1 turns the question in another way3-- ,what is man that ,thou magnifiest him1 ,and settest ,thine heart upon him8 ,that ,thou visitest him every morning1 ,and triest him every moment8 ,has the ,almighty no greater thing to engage ,him that ,he presses hard on the slight personality of man8 ,might he not be let alone for a little8 ,might the watchful eye not be turned away from him even for a moment8 ,and finally1 coming to the supposition that he may have transgressed and brought himself under the judgment of the ,most ,high1 he even dares to ask why that should be3-- ,have ,i sinned8 ,yet what have ,i done unto ,thee1 ,o ,thou ,watcher of men8 ,why hast ,thou set me as ,thy butt1 ,so that ,i am a burden to myself8 ,and why wilt ,thou not pardon my transgression1 ,and cause my sin to pass away8 ,how can his sin have injured ,god8 ,far above man the ,almighty dwells and reigns4 ,no shock of human revolt can affect ,his throne4 ,strange is it that a man1 even if he has committed some fault or neglected some duty1 should be like a block of wood or stone before the feet of the ,most ,high1 till bruised and broken he cares no more for existence4 ,if iniquity has been done1 cannot the ,great ,god forgive it1 pass it by8 ,that would be more like the ,great ,god4 ,yes2 soon ,job would be down in the dust of death4 ,the ,almighty would find then that he had gone too far4 ,thou shalt seek me1 but ,i shall not be4 ,more daring words were never put by a pious man into the mouth of one represented as pious2 and the whole passage shows how daring piety may be4 ,the inspired writer of this book knows ,god too well1 honours ,him too profoundly to be afraid4 ,the ,eternal ,father does not watch keenly for the offences of the creatures ,he has made4 ,may a man not be frank with ,god and say out what is in his heart8 ,surely he may4 ,but he must be entirely earnest4 ,no one playing with life1 with duty1 with truth1 or with doubt may expostulate thus with his ,maker4 ,there is indeed an aspect of our little life in which sin may appear too pitiful1 too impotent for ,god to search out4 ,as for man1 his days are as grass2 as a flower of the field1 so he flourisheth4 ,only when we see that infinite ,justice is involved in the minute infractions of justice1 that it must redress the iniquity done by feeble hands and vindicate the ideal we crave for yet so often infringe2 only when we see this and realise therewith the greatness of our being1 made for justice and the ideal1 for moral conflict and victory2 only1 in short1 when we know responsibility1 do we stand aghast at sin and comprehend the meaning of judgment4 ,job is learning here the wisdom and holiness of ,god which stand correlative to ,his grace and our responsibility4 ,by way of trial and pain and these sore battles with doubt he is entering into the fulness of the heritage of spiritual knowledge and power4 ,,ix4 ,,venturesome ,,theology4 ,,bildad ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 viii4 ,the first attempt to meet ,job has been made by one who relies on his own experience and takes pleasure in recounting the things which he has seen4 ,bildad of ,shuach1 on the other hand1 is a man who holds to the wisdom of the fathers and supports himself at all times with their answers to the questions of life4 ,vain to him is the reasoning of one who sees all as through coloured glass1 everything of this tint or that1 according to his state or notions for the time being4 ,the personal impression counts for nothing with ,bildad4 ,he finds no authority there4 ,in him we have the catholic theologian opposing individualism4 ,unfortunately he fails in the power most needed1 of distinguishing chaff from grain4 ,back to antiquity1 back to the fathers1 say some2 but1 although they profess the excellent temper of reverence1 there is no guarantee that they will not select the follies of the past instead of its wisdom to admire4 ,everything depends upon the man1 the individual1 after all1 whether he has an open mind1 a preference if not a passion for great ideas4 ,there are those who go back to the apostles and find only dogmatism1 instead of the glorious breadth of ,divine poetry and hope4 ,yea1 some go to the ,light of the ,world1 and report as their discovery some pragmatical scheme1 some weak arrangement of details1 a bondage or a futility4 ,bildad is not one of these4 ,he is intelligent and well-informed1 an able man1 as we say2 but he has no sympathy with new ideas that burst the old wine-skins of tradition1 no sympathy with daring words that throw doubt on old orthodoxies4 ,you can fancy his pious horror when the rude hand of ,job seemed to rend the sacred garments of established truth4 ,it would have been like him to turn away and leave to fate and judgment a man so venturesome4 ,with the instinct of the highest and noblest thought1 utterly removed from all impiety1 the writer has shown his inspiration in leading ,job to a climax of impassioned inquiry as one who wrestles in the swellings of ,jordan with the angel of ,jehovah4 ,now he brings forward ,bildad speaking cold words from a mind quite unable to understand the crisis4 ,this is a man who firmly believed himself possessed of authority and insight4 ,when ,job added entreaty to entreaty1 demand to demand1 ,bildad would feel as if his ears were deceiving him1 for what he heard seemed to be an impious assault on the justice of the ,most ,high1 an attempt to convict the ,infinitely ,righteous of unrighteousness4 ,he burns to speak2 and ,job has no sooner sunk down exhausted than he begins3-- ,how long wilt thou speak these things8 ,a mighty wind1 forsooth1 are the words of thy mouth4 ,god3--will ,he pervert judgment8 ,almighty ,god3--will ,he pervert righteousness8 ,if thy children sinned against ,him1 ,and ,he cast them away into the hand of their rebellion2 ,if thou wilt seek unto ,god1 ,and unto the ,almighty wilt make entreaty2 ,if spotless and upright thou art1 ,surely now ,he would awake for thee ,and make prosperous thy righteous habitation4 ,so that thy beginning shall prove small ,and thy latter end exceedingly great4 ,how far wrong ,bildad is may be seen in this1 that he dangles before ,job the hope of greater worldly prosperity4 ,the children must have sinned1 for they have perished4 ,yet ,job himself may possibly be innocent4 ,if he is1 then a simple entreaty to ,god will insure ,his renewed favour and help4 ,job is required to seek wealth and greatness again as a pledge of his own uprightness4 ,but the whole difficulty lies in the fact that1 being upright1 he has been plunged into poverty1 desolation1 and a living death4 ,he desires to know the reason of what has occurred4 ,apart altogether from the restoration of his prosperity and health1 he would know what ,god means4 ,bildad does not see this in the least4 ,himself a prosperous man1 devoted to the doctrine that opulence is the proof of religious acceptance and security1 he has nothing for ,job but the advice to get ,god to prove him righteous by giving him back his goods4 ,there is a taunt in ,bildad's speech4 ,he privately believes that there has been sin1 and that only by way of repentance good can come again4 ,since his friend is so obstinate let him try to regain his prosperity and fail4 ,bildad is lavish in promises1 extravagant indeed4 ,he can only be acquitted of a sinister meaning in his large prediction if we judge that he reckons ,god to be under a debt to a faithful servant whom ,he had unwittingly1 while ,he was not observing1 allowed to be overtaken by disaster4 ,next the speaker parades his learning1 the wisdom he had gathered from the past3-- ,inquire1 ,i pray thee1 of the bygone age1 ,and attend to the research of their fathers4 7,for we are but of yesterday and know nothing2 ,a shadow1 indeed1 are our days upon the earth7-- ,shall not they teach thee and tell thee1 ,bring forth words from their heart8 ,the man of to-day is nothing1 a poor creature4 ,only by the proved wisdom of the long ages can end come to controversy4 ,let ,job listen1 then1 and be convinced4 ,now it must be owned there is not simply an air of truth but truth itself in what ,bildad proceeds to say in the very picturesque passage that follows4 ,truths1 however1 may be taken hold of in a wrong way to establish false conclusions2 and in this way ,job's interlocutor errs with not a few of his painstaking successors4 ,the rush or papyrus of the river-side cannot grow without mire2 the reed-grass needs moisture4 ,if the water fails they wither4 ,so are the paths of all that forget ,god4 ,yes3 if you take it aright1 what can be more impressively certain8 ,the hope of a godless man perishes4 ,his confidence is cut off2 it is as if he trusted in a spider's web4 ,even his house1 however strongly built1 shall not support him4 ,the man who has abandoned ,god must come to this--that every earthly stay shall snap asunder1 every expectation fade4 ,there shall be nothing between him and despair4 ,his strength1 his wisdom1 his inheritance1 his possessions piled together in abundance1 how can they avail when the demand is urged by ,divine justice--,what hast thou done with thy life8 ,this1 however1 is not at all in ,bildad's mind4 ,he is not thinking of the prosperity of the soul and exultation in ,god1 but of outward success1 that a man should spread his visible existence like a green bay tree4 ,beyond that visible existence he cannot stretch thought or reasoning4 ,his school1 generally1 believed in ,god much after the manner of ,english eighteenth-century deists1 standing on the earth1 looking over the life of man here1 and demanding in the present world the vindication of providence4 ,the position is realistic1 the good of life solely mundane4 ,if one is brought low who flourished in luxuriance and sent forth his shoots over the garden and was rooted near the spring1 his poverty is his destruction2 he is destroyed because somehow the law of life1 that is of prosperity1 has been transgressed1 and the ,god of success punishes the fault4 ,we are made to feel that beneath the promise of returning honour and joy with which ,bildad closes there is an if4 ,god will not cast away a perfect man4 ,is ,job perfect8 ,then his mouth will be filled with laughter1 and his haters shall be clothed with shame4 ,that issue is problematical4 ,and yet1 on the whole1 doubt is kept well in the background1 and the final word of cheer is made as generous and hopeful as circumstances will allow4 ,bildad means to leave the impression on ,job's mind that the wisdom of the ancients as applied to his case is reassuring4 ,but one sentence of his speech1 that in which 7ver4 #d7 he implies the belief that ,job's children had sinned and been cast away into the hand of their rebellion1 shows the cold1 relentless side of his orthodoxy1 the logic1 not unknown still1 which presses to its point over the whole human race4 ,bildad meant1 it appears1 to shift from ,job the burden of his children's fate4 ,the catastrophe which overtook them might have seemed to be one of the arrows of judgment aimed at the father4 ,job himself may have had great perplexity as well as keen distress whenever he thought of his sons and daughters4 ,now ,bildad is throwing on them the guilt which he believes to have been so terribly punished1 even to the extremity of irremediable death4 ,but there is no enlightenment in the suggestion4 ,rather does it add to the difficulties of the case4 ,the sons and daughters whom ,job loved1 over whom he watched with such religious care lest they should renounce ,god in their hearts--were they condemned by the ,most ,high8 ,a man of the old world1 accustomed to think of himself as standing in ,god's stead to his household1 ,job cannot receive this4 ,thought having been once stirred to its depths1 he is resentful now against a doctrine that may never before have been questioned4 ,is there1 then1 no fatherhood in the ,almighty1 no magnanimity such as ,job himself would have shown8 ,if so1 then the spirit would fail before ,him1 and the souls which ,he has made 7,isaiah lvii4 #af74 ,the dogmatist with his wisdom of the ages drops in the by-going one of his commonplaces of theological thought4 ,it is a coal of fire in the heart of the sufferer4 ,those who attempt to explain ,god's ways for edification and comfort need to be very simple and genuine in their feeling with men1 their effort on behalf of ,god4 ,every one who believes and thinks has something in his spiritual experience worth recounting1 and may help an afflicted brother by retracing his own history4 ,but to make a creed learned by rote the basis of consolation is perilous4 ,the aspect it takes to those under trial will often surprise the best-meaning consoler4 ,a point is emphasised by the keen mind of sorrow1 and1 like ,elijah's cloud1 it soon sweeps over the whole sky1 a storm of doubt and dismay4 ,x4 ,,the ,,thought ,,of ,a ,,daysman4 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 ix41 x4 ,it is with an infinitely sad restatement of what ,god has been made to appear to him by ,bildad's speech that ,job begins his reply4 ,yes1 yes2 it is so4 ,how can man be just before such a ,god8 ,you tell me my children are overwhelmed with destruction for their sins4 ,you tell me that ,i1 who am not quite dead as yet1 may have new prosperity if ,i put myself into right relations with ,god4 ,but how can that be8 ,there is no uprightness1 no dutifulness1 no pious obedience1 no sacrifice that will satisfy ,him4 ,i did my utmost2 yet ,god has condemned me4 ,and if ,he is what you say1 ,his condemnation is unanswerable4 ,he has such wisdom in devising accusations and in maintaining them against feeble man1 that hope there can be none for any human being4 ,to answer one of the thousand charges ,god can bring1 if ,he will contend with man1 is impossible4 ,the earthquakes are signs of ,his indignation1 removing mountains1 shaking the earth out of her place4 ,he is able to quench the light of the sun and moon1 and to seal up the stars4 ,what is man beside the omnipotence of ,him who alone stretched out the heavens1 whose march is on the huge waves of the ocean1 who is the ,creator of the constellations' the ,bear1 the ,giant1 the ,pleiades1 and the chambers or spaces of the southern sky8 ,it is the play of irresistible power ,job traces around him1 and the ,divine mind or will is inscrutable4 ,lo1 ,he goeth by me and ,i see ,him not3 ,he passeth on1 and ,i perceive ,him not4 ,behold1 ,he seizeth4 ,who will stay ,him8 ,who will say to ,him1 ,what doest ,thou8 ,step by step the thought here advances into that dreadful imagination of ,god's unrighteousness which must issue in revolt or in despair4 ,job1 turning against the bitter logic of tradition1 appears for the time to plunge into impiety4 ,sincere earnest thinker as he is1 he falls into a strain we are almost compelled to call false and blasphemous4 ,bildad and ,eliphaz seem to be saints1 ,job a rebel against ,god4 ,the ,almighty1 he says1 is like a lion that seizes the prey and cannot be hindered from devouring4 ,he is a wrathful tyrant under whom the helpers of ,rahab1 those powers that according to some nature myth sustain the dragon of the sea in its conflict with heaven1 stoop and give way4 ,shall ,job essay to answer ,him8 ,it is vain4 ,he cannot4 ,to choose words in such a controversy would be of no avail4 ,even one right in his cause would be overborne by tyrannical omnipotence4 ,he would have no resource but to supplicate for mercy like a detected malefactor4 ,once ,job may have thought that an appeal to justice would be heard1 that his trust in righteousness was well founded4 ,he is falling away from that belief now4 ,this being whose despotic power has been set in his view has no sense of man's right4 ,he cares nothing for man4 ,what is ,god8 ,how does ,he appear in the light of the sufferings of ,job8 ,he breaketh me with a tempest1 ,increaseth my wounds without cause4 ,if you speak of the strength of the mighty1 ',behold ,me1' saith ,he2 ,if of judgment--',who will appoint ,me a time8' ,no one1 that is1 can call ,god to account4 ,the temper of the ,almighty appears to ,job to be such that man must needs give up all controversy4 ,in his heart ,job is convinced still that he has wrought no evil4 ,but he will not say so4 ,he will anticipate the wilful condemnation of the ,almighty4 ,god would assail his life4 ,job replies in fierce revolt1 ,assail it1 take it away1 ,i care not1 for ,i despise it4 ,whether one is righteous or evil1 it is all the same4 ,god destroys the perfect and the wicked 7ver4 #bb74 ,now1 are we to explain away this language8 ,if not1 how shall we defend the writer who has put it into the mouth of one still the hero of the book1 still appearing as a friend of ,god8 ,to many in our day1 as of old1 religion is so dull and lifeless1 their desire for the friendship of ,god so lukewarm1 that the passion of the words of ,job is incomprehensible to them4 ,his courage of despair belongs to a range of feeling they never entered1 never dreamt of entering4 ,the calculating world is their home1 and in its frigid atmosphere there is no possibility of that keen striving for spiritual life which fills the soul as with fire4 ,to those who deny sin and pooh-pooh anxiety about the soul1 the book may well appear an old-world dream1 a ,hebrew allegory rather than the history of a man4 ,but the language of ,job is no outburst of lawlessness2 it springs out of deep and serious thought4 ,it is difficult to find an exact modern parallel here2 but we have not to go far back for one who was driven like ,job by false theology into bewilderment1 something like unreason4 ,in his ,grace ,abounding1 ,john ,bunyan reveals the depths of fear into which hard arguments and misinterpretations of ,scripture often plunged him1 when he should have been rejoicing in the liberty of a child of ,god4 ,the case of ,bunyan is1 in a sense1 very different from that of ,job4 ,yet both are urged almost to despair of ,god2 and ,bunyan1 realising this point of likeness1 again and again uses words put into ,job's mouth4 ,doubts and suspicions are suggested by his reading1 or by sermons which he hears1 and he regards their occurrence to his mind as a proof of his wickedness4 ,in one place he says3 ,now ,i thought surely ,i am possessed of the devil3 at other times again ,i thought ,i should be bereft of my wits2 for1 instead of lauding and magnifying ,god with others1 if ,i have but heard ,him spoken of1 presently some most horrible blasphemous thought or other would bolt out of my heart against ,him1 so that whether ,i did think that ,god was1 or again did think there was no such thing1 no love1 nor peace1 nor gracious disposition could ,i feel within me4 ,bunyan had a vivid imagination4 ,he was haunted by strange cravings for the spiritually adventurous4 ,what would it be to sin the sin that is unto death8 ,in so strong a measure1 he says1 was this temptation upon me1 that often ,i have been ready to clap my hands under my chin to keep my mouth from opening4 ,the idea that he should sell and part with ,christ was one that terribly afflicted him2 and1 at last1 he says1 after much striving1 ,i felt this thought pass through my heart1 ,let ,him go if ,he will4444 ,after this1 nothing for two years together would abide with me but damnation and the expectation of damnation4 ,this thought had passed my heart--,god hath let me go1 and ,i am fallen4 ,oh1 thought ,i1 that it was with me as in months past1 as in the days when ,god preserved me4 ,the ,book of ,job helps us to understand ,bunyan and those terrors of his that amaze our composed generation4 ,given a man like ,job or like ,bunyan1 to whom religion is everything1 who must feel sure of ,divine justice1 truth1 and mercy1 he will pass far beyond the measured emotions and phrases of those who are more than half content with the world and themselves4 ,the writer here1 whose own stages of thought are recorded1 and ,bunyan1 who with rare force and sincerity retraces the way of his life1 are men of splendid character and virtue4 ,titans of the religious life1 they are stricken with anguish and bound with iron fetters to the rock of pain for the sake of universal humanity4 ,they are a wonder to the worldling1 they speak in terms the smooth professor of religion shudders at4 ,but their endurance1 their vehement resolution1 break the falsehoods of the time and enter into the redemption of the race4 ,the strain of ,job's complaint increases in bitterness4 ,he seems to see omnipotent injustice everywhere4 ,if a scourge 7ver4 #bc71 such as lightning1 accident or disease1 slayeth suddenly1 there seems to be nothing but mockery of the innocent4 ,god looks down on the wreck of human hope from the calm sky after the thunderstorm1 in the evening sunlight that gilds the desert grave4 ,and in the world of men the wicked have their way4 ,god veils the face of the judge so that he is blinded to the equity of the cause4 ,thus1 after the arguments of his friends1 ,job is compelled to see wrong everywhere1 and to say that it is the doing of ,god4 ,the strophe ends with the abrupt fierce demand1--,if not1 who then is it8 ,the short passage from the twenty-fifth verse to the end of chap4 ix4 returns sadly to the strain of personal weakness and entreaty4 ,swiftly ,job's days go by1 more swiftly than a runner1 in so far as he sees no good4 ,or they are like the reed-skiffs on the river1 or the darting eagle4 ,to forget his pain is impossible4 ,he cannot put on an appearance of serenity or hope4 ,god is keeping him bound as a transgressor4 ,i shall be condemned whatever ,i do4 ,why then do ,i weary myself in vain8 ,looking at his discoloured body1 covered with the grime of disease1 he finds it a sign of ,god's detestation4 ,but if he could wash it with snow1 that is1 to snowy whiteness1 if he could purify those blackened limbs with lye1 the renewal would go no further4 ,god would plunge him again into the mire2 his own clothes would abhor him4 ,and now there is a change of tone4 ,his mind1 revolting from its own conclusion1 turns toward the thought of reconciliation4 ,while as yet he speaks of it as an impossibility there comes to him a sorrowful regret1 a vague dream or reflection in place of that fierce rebellion which discoloured the whole world and made it appear an arena of injustice4 ,with that he cannot pretend to satisfy himself4 ,again his humanity stirs in him3-- ,for ,he is not a man1 as ,i1 that ,i should answer ,him1 ,that we should come together in judgment4 ,there is no daysman between us ,that might lay his hand upon us both4 ,let ,him take away ,his rod from me1 ,and let not ,his terror overawe me2 ,then would ,i speak and not fear ,him3 ,for ,i am not in such case in myself4 ,if he could only speak with ,god as a man speaks with his friend the shadows might be cleared away4 ,the real ,god1 not unreasonable1 not unrighteous nor despotic1 here begins to appear2 and in default of personal converse1 and of a daysman1 or arbiter1 who might lay reconciling hands upon both and bring them together1 ,job cries for an interval of strength and freedom1 that without fear and anguish he may himself express the matter at stake4 ,the idea of a daysman1 although the possibility of such a friendly helper is denied1 is a new mark of boldness in the thought of the drama4 ,in that one word the inspired writer strikes the note of a ,divine purpose which he does not yet foresee4 ,we must not say that here we have the prediction of a ,redeemer at once ,god and man4 ,the author has no such affirmation to make4 ,but very remarkably the desires of ,job are led forth in that direction in which the advent and work of ,christ have fulfilled the decree of grace4 ,there can be no doubt of the inspiration of a writer who thus strikes into the current of the ,divine will and revelation4 ,not obscurely is it implied in this ,book of ,job that1 however earnest man may be in religion1 however upright and faithful 7for all this ,job was71 there are mysteries of fear and sorrow connected with his life in this world which can be solved only by ,one who brings the light of eternity into the range of time1 who is at once very ,god and very man1 whose overcoming demands and encourages our faith4 ,now1 the wistful cry of ,job--,there is no daysman between us--breaking from the depths of an experience to which the best as well as the worst are exposed in this life1 an experience which cannot in either case be justified or accounted for unless by the fact of immortality1 is1 let us say1 as presented here1 a purely human cry4 ,man who cannot be ,god's exile1 bound always to seek understanding of the will and character of ,god1 finds himself in the midst of sudden calamity and extreme pain1 face to face with death4 ,the darkness that shrouds his whole existence he longs to see dispelled or shot through with beams of clear revealing light4 ,what shall we say of it8 ,if such a desire1 arising in the inmost mind1 had no correspondence whatever to fact1 there would be falsehood at the heart of things4 ,the very shape the desire takes--for a ,mediator who should be acquainted equally with ,god and man1 sympathetic toward the creature1 knowing the mind of the ,creator--cannot be a chance thing4 ,it is the fruit of a ,divine necessity inwrought with the constitution and life of the human soul4 ,we are pointed to an irrefragable argument2 but the thought meanwhile does not follow it4 ,immortality waits for a revelation4 99 99 99 99 99 ,job has prayed for rest4 ,it does not come4 ,another attack of pain makes a pause in his speech1 and with the tenth chapter begins a long address to the ,most ,high1 not fierce as before1 but sorrowful1 subdued4 ,my soul is weary of my life4 ,i will give free course to my complaint2 ,i will speak in bitterness of my soul4 ,it is scarcely possible to touch the threnody that follows without marring its pathetic and profound beauty4 ,there is an exquisite dignity of restraint and frankness in this appeal to the ,creator4 ,he is an ,artist whose fine work is in peril1 and that from ,his own seeming carelessness of it1 or more dreadful to conceive1 ,his resolution to destroy it4 ,first the cry is1 ,do not condemn me4 ,is it good unto ,thee that ,thou shouldest despise the work of ,thine hands8 ,it is marvellous to ,job that he should be scorned as worthless1 while at the same time ,god seems to shine on the counsel of the wicked4 ,how can that1 ,o ,thou ,most ,high1 be in harmony with ,thy nature8 ,he puts a supposition1 which even in stating it he must refuse1 ,hast ,thou eyes of flesh8 or seest ,thou as man seeth8 ,a jealous man1 clothed with a little brief authority1 might probe into the misdeeds of a fellow-creature4 ,but ,god cannot do so4 ,his majesty forbids2 and especially since ,he knows1 for one thing1 that ,job is not guilty1 and1 for another thing1 that no one can escape ,his hands4 ,men often lay hold of the innocent1 and torture them to discover imputed crimes4 ,the supposition that ,god acts like a despot or the servant of a despot is made only to be cast aside4 ,but he goes back on his appeal to ,god as ,creator1 and bethinks him of that tender fashioning of the body which seems an argument for as tender a care of the soul and the spirit-life4 ,much of power and lovingkindness goes to the perfecting of the body and the development of the physical life out of weakness and embryonic form4 ,can ,he who has so wrought1 who has added favour and apparent love1 have been concealing all the time a design of mockery8 ,even in creating1 had ,god the purpose of making ,his creature a mere plaything for the self-will of ,omnipotence8 ,yet these things ,thou didst hide in ,thine heart4 ,these things--the desolate home1 the outcast life1 the leprosy4 ,job uses a strange word3 ,i know that this was with ,thee4 ,his conclusion is stated roughly1 that nothing can matter in dealing with such a ,creator4 ,the insistence of the friends on the hope of forgiveness1 ,job's own consciousness of integrity go for nothing4 ,were ,i to sin ,thou wouldst mark me1 ,and ,thou wouldst not acquit me of iniquity4 ,were ,i wicked1 woe unto me2 ,were ,i righteous1 yet should ,i not lift up my head4 ,the supreme ,power of the world has taken an aspect not of unreasoning force1 but of determined ill-will to man4 ,the only safety seems to be in lying quiet so as not to excite against him the activity of this awful ,god who hunts like a lion and delights in marvels of wasteful strength4 ,it appears that1 having been once roused1 the ,divine ,enemy will not cease to persecute4 ,new witnesses1 new causes of indignation would be found2 a changing host of troubles would follow up the attack4 ,i have ventured to interpret the whole address in terms of supposition1 as a theory ,job flings out in the utter darkness that surrounds him4 ,he does not adopt it4 ,to imagine that he really believes this1 or that the writer of the book intended to put forward such a theory as even approximately true1 is quite impossible4 ,and yet1 when one thinks of it1 perhaps impossible is too strong a word4 ,the doctrine of the sovereignty of ,god is a fundamental truth2 but it has been so conceived and wrought with as to lead many reasoners into a dream of cruelty and irresponsible force not unlike that which haunts the mind of ,job4 ,something of the kind has been argued for with no little earnestness by men who were religiously endeavouring to explain the ,bible and professed to believe in the love of ,god to the world4 ,for example3 the annihilation of the wicked is denied by one for the good reason that ,god has a profound reverence for being or existence1 so that he who is once possessed of will must exist for ever2 but from this the writer goes on to maintain that the wicked are useful to ,god as the material on which ,his justice operates1 that indeed they have been created solely for everlasting punishment in order that through them the justice of the ,almighty may be clearly seen4 ,against this very kind of theology ,job is in revolt4 ,in the light even of his world it was a creed of darkness4 ,that ,god hates wrong-doing1 that everything selfish1 vindictive1 cruel1 unclean1 false1 shall be driven before ,him--who can doubt8 ,that according to ,his decree sin brings its punishment yielding the wages of death--who can doubt8 ,but to represent ,him who has made us all1 and must have foreseen our sin1 as without any kind of responsibility for us1 dashing in pieces the machines ,he has made because they do not serve ,his purpose1 though ,he knew even in making them that they would not--what a hideous falsehood is this2 it can justify ,god only at the expense of undeifying ,him4 ,one thing this ,book of ,job teaches1 that we are not to go against our own sincere reason nor our sense of justice and truth in order to square facts with any scheme or any theory4 ,religious teaching and thought must affirm nothing that is not entirely frank1 purely just1 and such as we could1 in the last resort1 apply out and out to ourselves4 ,shall man be more just than ,god1 more generous than ,god1 more faithful than ,god8 ,perish the thought1 and every system that maintains so false a theory and tries to force it on the human mind6 ,nevertheless1 let there be no falling into the opposite error2 from that1 too1 frankness will preserve us4 ,no sincere man1 attentive to the realities of the world and the awful ordinances of nature1 can suspect the ,universal ,power of indifference to evil1 of any design to leave law without sanction4 ,we do not escape at one point2 ,god is our ,father2 righteousness is vindicated1 and so is faith4 ,as the colloquies proceed1 the impression is gradually made that the writer of this book is wrestling with that study which more and more engages the intellect of man--,what is the real8 ,how does it stand related to the ideal1 thought of as righteousness1 as beauty1 as truth8 ,how does it stand related to ,god1 sovereign and holy8 ,the opening of the book might have led straight to the theory that the real1 the present world charged with sin1 disaster1 and death1 is not of the ,divine order1 therefore is of a ,devil4 ,but the disappearance of ,satan throws aside any such idea of dualism1 and pledges the writer to find solution1 if he find it at all1 in one will1 one purpose1 one ,divine event4 ,on ,job himself the burden and the effort descend in his conflict with the real as disaster1 enigma1 impending death1 false judgment1 established theology and schemes of explanation4 ,the ideal evades him1 is lost between the rising wave and the lowering sky4 ,in the whole horizon he sees no clear open space where it can unfold the day4 ,but it remains in his heart2 and in the night-sky it waits where the great constellations shine in their dazzling purity and eternal calm1 brooding silent over the world as from immeasurable distance far withdrawn4 ,even from that distance ,god sends forth and will accomplish a design4 ,meanwhile the man stretches his hands in vain from the shadowed earth to those keen lights1 ever so remote and cold4 ,show me wherefore ,thou strivest with me4 ,is it pleasant to ,thee that ,thou should'st oppress1 ,that ,thou should'st despise the work of ,thy hands ,and shine upon the counsel of the wicked8 ,hast ,thou eyes of flesh8 ,or seest ,thou as man seeth8 ,thy days--are they as the days of man8 ,thy years--are they as man's days1 ,that ,thou inquirest after fault of mine1 ,and searchest after my sin1 ,though ,thou knowest that ,i am not wicked1 ,and none can deliver from ,thy hand8 ,thine hands have made and fashioned me ,together round about2 and ,thou dost destroy me4 7,chap4 x4 #b-h47 ,,xi4 ,a ,,fresh ,,attempt ,,to ,,convict4 ,,zophar ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 xi4 ,the third and presumably youngest of the three friends of ,job now takes up the argument somewhat in the same strain as the others4 ,with no wish to be unfair to ,zophar we are somewhat prepossessed against him from the outset2 and the writer must mean us to be so1 since he makes him attack ,job as an empty babbler3-- ,shall not the multitude of words be answered8 ,and shall a man of lips be justified8 ,shall thy boastings make people silent1 ,so that thou mayest mock on1 none putting thee to shame8 ,true it was1 ,job had used vehement speech4 ,yet it is a most insulting suggestion that he meant little but irreligious bluster4 ,the special note of ,zophar comes out in his rebuke of ,job for the mockery1 that is1 sceptical talk1 in which he had indulged4 ,persons who merely rehearse opinions are usually the most dogmatic and take most upon them4 ,nobody reckons himself more able to detect error in doctrine1 nobody denounces rationalism and infidelity with greater confidence1 than the man whose creed is formal1 who never applied his mind directly to the problems of faith1 and has but a moderate amount of mind to apply4 ,zophar1 indeed1 is a man of considerable intelligence2 but he betrays himself4 ,to him ,job's words have been wearisome4 ,he may have tried to understand the matter1 but he has caught only a general impression that1 in the face of what appears to him clearest evidence1 ,job denies being any way amenable to justice4 ,he had dared to say to ,god1 ,thou knowest that ,i am not wicked4 ,what8 ,god can afflict a man whom ,he knows to be righteous6 ,it is a doctrine as profane as it is novel4 ,eliphaz and ,bildad supposed that they had to deal with a man unwilling to humble himself in the way of acknowledging sins hitherto concealed4 ,by pressure of one kind or another they hoped to get ,job to realise his secret transgression4 ,but ,zophar has noted the whole tendency of his argument to be heretical4 ,thou sayest1 ,my doctrine is pure4 ,and what is that doctrine8 ,why1 that thou wast clean in the eyes of ,god1 that ,god has smitten thee without cause4 ,dost thou mean1 ,o ,job6 to accuse the ,most ,high of acting in that manner8 ,oh that ,god would speak and open ,his lips against thee6 ,thou hast expressed a desire to state thy case to ,him4 ,the result would be very different from thy expectation4 ,now1 beneath any mistaken view held by sincere persons there is almost always a sort of foundation of truth2 and they have at least as much logic as satisfies themselves4 ,job's friends are religious men2 they do not consciously build on lies4 ,one and all they are convinced that ,god is invariable in ,his treatment of men1 never afflicting the innocent1 always dealing out judgment in the precise measure of a man's sin4 ,that belief is the basis of their creed4 ,they could not worship a ,god less than absolutely just4 ,beginning the religious life with this faith they have clung to it all along4 ,after thirty or forty years' experience they are still confident that their principle explains the prosperity and affliction1 the circumstances of all human beings4 ,but have they never seen anything that did not harmonise with this view of providence8 ,have they not seen the good die in youth1 and those whose hearts are dry as summer dust burn to their sockets8 ,have they not seen vile schemes prosper1 and the schemers enjoy their ill-gotten power for years8 ,it is strange the old faith has not been shaken at least4 ,but no6 ,they come to the case of ,job as firmly convinced as ever that the ,ruler of the world shows ,his justice by dispensing joy and suffering in proportion to men's good and evil deeds1 that whenever trouble falls on any one some sin must have been committed which deserved precisely this kind and quantity of suffering4 ,trying to get at the source of the belief we must confess ourselves partly at a loss4 ,one writer suggests that there may have been in the earlier and simpler conditions of society a closer correspondence between wrong-doing and suffering than is to be seen nowadays4 ,there may be something in this4 ,but life is not governed differently at different epochs1 and the theory is hardly proved by what we know of the ancient world4 ,no doubt in the history of the ,hebrews1 which lies behind the faith attributed to the friends of ,job1 a connection may be traced between their wrong-doing as a nation and their suffering as a nation4 ,when they fell away from faith in ,god their obedience languished1 their vigour failed1 the end of their existence being lost sight of1 and so they became the prey of enemies4 ,but this did not apply to individuals4 ,the good suffered along with the careless and wicked in seasons of national calamity4 ,and the history of the people of ,israel would support such a view of the ,divine government so long only as national transgression and its punishment were alone taken into account4 ,now1 however1 the distinction between the nation and the individual has clearly emerged4 ,the sin of a community can no longer explain satisfactorily the sufferings of a member of the community1 faithful among the unbelieving4 ,but the theory seems to have been made out rather by the following course of argument4 ,always in the administration of law and the exercise of paternal authority1 transgression has been visited with pain and deprivation of privilege4 ,the father whose son has disobeyed him inflicts pain1 and1 if he is a judicious father1 makes the pain proportionate to the offence4 ,the ruler1 through his judges and officers1 punishes transgression according to some orderly code4 ,malefactors are deprived of liberty2 they are fined or scourged1 or1 in the last resort1 executed4 ,now1 having in this way built up a system of law which inflicts punishment with more or less justice in proportion to the offence imputed1 men take for granted that what they do imperfectly is done perfectly by ,god4 ,they take for granted that the calamities and troubles ,he appoints are ordained according to the same principle1 with precisely the same design1 as penalty is inflicted by a father1 a chief1 or a king4 ,the reasoning is contradicted in many ways1 but they disregard the difficulties4 ,if this is not the truth1 what other explanation is to be found8 ,the desire for happiness is keen2 pain seems the worst of evils3 and they fail to see that endurance can be the means of good4 ,feeling themselves bound to maintain the perfect righteousness of ,god they affirm the only theory of suffering that seems to agree with it4 ,now1 ,zophar1 like the others full of this theory1 admits that ,job may have failed to see his transgression4 ,but in that case the sufferer is unable to distinguish right from wrong4 ,indeed1 his whole contention seems to ,zophar to show ignorance4 ,if ,god were to speak and reveal the secrets of ,his holy wisdom1 twice as deep1 twice as penetrating as ,job supposes1 the sins he has denied would be brought home to him4 ,he would know that ,god requires less of him than his iniquity deserves4 ,zophar hints1 what is very true1 that our judgment of our own conduct is imperfect4 ,how can we trace the real nature of our actions1 or know how they look to the sublime wisdom of the ,most ,high8 ,job appears to have forgotten all this4 ,he refuses to allow fault in himself4 ,but ,god knows better4 ,here is a cunning argument to fortify the general position4 ,it could always be said of a case which presented difficulties that1 while the sufferer seemed innocent1 yet the wisdom of ,god1 twofold in understanding 7ver4 #f7 as compared with that of man1 perceived guilt and ordained the punishment4 ,but the argument proved too much1 for ,zophar's own health and comfort contradicted his dogma4 ,he took for granted that the twofold wisdom of the ,almighty found nothing wrong in him4 ,it was a nave piece of forgetfulness4 ,could he assert that his life had no flaw8 ,hardly4 ,but then1 why is he in honour8 ,how had he been able to come riding on his camel1 attended by his servants1 to sit in judgment on ,job8 ,plainly1 on an argument like his1 no man could ever be in comfort or pleasure1 for human nature is always defective1 always in more or less of sin4 ,repentance never overtakes the future4 ,therefore ,god who deals with man on a broad basis could never treat him save as a sinner1 to be kept in pain and deprivation4 ,if suffering is the penalty of sin we ought all1 notwithstanding the atonement of ,christ1 to be suffering the pain of the hour for the defect of the hour1 since all have sinned1 and fall short of the glory of ,god4 ,at this rate man's life--again despite the atonement--would be continued trial and sentence4 ,from all which it is evident that the world is governed on another plan than that which satisfied ,job's friends4 ,zophar rises to eloquence in declaring the unsearchableness of ,divine wisdom4 ,canst thou find the depths of ,eloah8 ,canst thou reach to the end of ,shaddai8 ,heights of heaven6 ,what canst thou do8 ,deeper than ,sheol6 ,what canst thou know8 ,the measure thereof is longer than the earth1 ,broader is it than the sea4 ,here is fine poetry2 but with an attempt at theology the speaker goes astray1 for he conceives ,god as doing what he himself wishes to do1 namely1 prove ,job a sinner4 ,the ,divine greatness is invoked that a narrow scheme of thought may be justified4 ,if ,god pass by1 if ,he arrest1 if ,he hold assize1 who can hinder ,him8 ,supreme wisdom and infinite power admit no questioning1 no resistance4 ,god knoweth vain or wicked men at a glance4 ,one look and all is plain to ,him4 ,empty man will be wise in these matters when a wild ass's colt is born a man4 ,turning from this1 as if in recollection that he has to treat ,job with friendliness1 ,zophar closes like the other two with a promise4 ,if ,job will put away sin1 his life shall be established again1 his misery forgotten or remembered as a torrent of spring when the heat of summer comes4 ,thou shalt forget thy misery2 ,remember it as waters that have passed by2 ,and thy life shall rise brighter than noonday2 ,and if darkness fall1 it shall be as the morning4 ,thou shalt then have confidence because there is hope2 ,yea1 look around and take rest in safety1 ,also lie down and none shall affray thee1 ,and many shall make suit unto thee4 ,but the eyes of the wicked fail2 ,for them no way of escape4 ,and their hope is to breathe out the spirit4 ,rhetoric and logic are used in promises given freely by all the speakers4 ,but not one of them has any comfort for his friend while the affliction lasts4 ,the author does not allow one of them to say1 ,god is thy friend1 ,god is thy portion--now2 ,he still cares for thee4 ,in some of the psalms a higher note is heard3 ,there be many that say1 ,who will shew us any good8 ,,lord1 lift ,thou up the light of ,thy countenance upon us4 ,thou hast put gladness in my heart1 more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased4 ,the friends of ,job are full of pious intentions1 yet they state a most unspiritual creed1 the foundation of it laid in corn and wine4 ,peace of conscience and quiet confidence in ,god are not what they go by4 ,hence the sufferer finds no support in them or their promises4 ,they will not help him to live one day1 nor sustain him in dying4 ,for it is the light of ,god's countenance he desires to see4 ,he is only mocked and exasperated by their arguments2 and in the course of his own eager thought the revelation comes like a star of hope rising on the midnight of his soul4 ,though ,zophar fails like the other two1 he is not to be called a mere echo4 ,it is incorrect to say that1 while ,eliphaz is a kind of prophet and ,bildad a sage1 ,zophar is a commonplace man without ideas4 ,on the contrary1 he is a thinker1 something of a philosopher1 although1 of course1 greatly restricted by his narrow creed4 ,he is stringent1 bitter indeed4 ,but he has the merit of seeing a certain force in ,job's contention which he does not fairly meet4 ,it is a fresh suggestion that the answer must lie in the depth of that penetrating wisdom of the ,most ,high1 compared to which man's wisdom is vain4 ,then1 his description of the return of blessedness and prosperity1 when one examines it1 is found distinctly in advance of ,eliphaz's picture in moral colouring and gravity of treatment4 ,we must not fail to notice1 moreover1 that ,zophar speaks of the omniscience of ,god more than of ,his omnipotence2 and the closing verse describes the end of the wicked not as the result of a supernatural stroke or a sudden calamity1 but as a process of natural and spiritual decay4 ,the closing words of ,zophar's speech point to the finality of death1 and bear the meaning that if ,job were to die now of his disease the whole question of his character would be closed4 ,it is important to note this1 because it enters into ,job's mind and affects his expressions of desire4 ,never again does he cry for release as before4 ,if he names death it is as a sorrowful fate he must meet or a power he will defy4 ,he advances to one point after another of reasserted energy1 to the resolution that1 whatever death may do1 either in the underworld or beyond it he will wait for vindication or assert his right4 ,,xii4 ,,beyond ,,fact ,,and ,,fear ,,to ,,god4 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 xii4-xiv4 ,zophar excites in ,job's mind great irritation1 which must not be set down altogether to the fact that he is the third to speak4 ,in some respects he has made the best attack from the old position1 pressing most upon the conscience of ,job4 ,he has also used a curt positive tone in setting out the method and principle of ,divine government and the judgment he has formed of his friend's state4 ,job is accordingly the more impatient1 if not disconcerted4 ,zophar had spoken of the want of understanding ,job had shown1 and the penetrating wisdom of ,god which at a glance convicts men of iniquity4 ,his tone provoked resentment4 ,who is this that claims to have solved the enigmas of providence1 to have gone into the depths of wisdom8 ,does he know any more1 he himself1 than the wild ass's colt8 ,and ,job begins with stringent irony-- ,no doubt but ye are the people1 ,and wisdom shall die with you4 ,the secrets of thought1 of revelation itself are yours4 ,no doubt the world waited to be taught till you were born4 ,do you not think so8 ,but1 after all1 ,i also have a share of understanding1 ,i am not quite so void of intellect as you seem to fancy4 ,besides1 who knoweth not such things as ye speak8 ,are they new8 ,i had supposed them to be commonplaces4 ,yea1 if you recall what ,i said1 you will find that with a little more vigour than yours ,i made the same declarations4 ,a laughing-stock to his neighbours am ,i1 ,i who called upon ,eloah and ,he answered me1-- ,a laughing-stock1 the righteous and perfect man4 ,job sees or thinks he sees that his misery makes him an object of contempt to men who once gave him the credit of far greater wisdom and goodness than their own4 ,they are bringing out old notions1 which are utterly useless1 to explain the ways of ,god2 they assume the place of teachers2 they are far better1 far wiser now than he4 ,it is more than flesh can bear4 ,as he looks at his own diseased body and feels again his weakness1 the cruelty of the conventional judgment stings him4 ,in the thought of him that is at ease there is for misfortune scorn2 it awaiteth them that slip with the foot4 ,perhaps ,job was mistaken1 but it is too often true that the man who fails in a social sense is the man suspected4 ,evil things are found in him when he is covered with the dust of misfortune1 things which no one dreamed of before4 ,flatterers become critics and judges4 ,they find that he has a bad heart or that he is a fool4 ,but if those very good and wise friends of ,job are astonished at anything previously said1 they shall be more astonished4 ,the facts which their account of ,divine providence very carefully avoided as inconvenient ,job will blurt out4 ,they have stated and restated1 with utmost complacency1 their threadbare theory of the government of ,god4 ,let them look now abroad on the world and see what actually goes on1 blinking no facts4 ,the tents of robbers prosper4 ,out in the desert there are troops of bandits who are never overtaken by justice2 and they that provoke ,god are secure1 who carry a god in their hand1 whose sword and the reckless daring with which they use it make them to all appearance safe in villainy4 ,these are the things to be accounted for2 and1 accounting for them1 ,job launches into a most emphatic argument to prove all that is done in the world strangely and inexplicably to be the doing of ,god4 ,as to that he will allow no question4 ,his friends shall know that he is sound on this head4 ,and let them provide the defence of ,divine righteousness after he has spoken4 ,here1 however1 it is necessary to consider in what way the limitations of ,hebrew thought must have been felt by one who1 turning from the popular creed1 sought a view more in harmony with fact4 ,now-a-days the word nature is often made to stand for a force or combination of forces conceived of as either entirely or partially independent of ,god4 ,tennyson makes the distinction when he speaks of man ,who trusted ,god was love indeed ,and love creation's final law1 ,though nature1 red in tooth and claw ,with ravin1 shrieked against the creed and again when he asks-- ,are ,god and nature then at strife ,that nature lends such evil dreams1 ,so careful of the type she seems1 ,so careless of the single life8 ,now to this question1 perplexing enough on the face of it when we consider what suffering there is in the creation1 how the waves of life seem to beat and break themselves age after age on the rocks of death1 the answer in its first stage is that ,god and nature cannot be at strife4 ,they are not apart2 there is but one universe1 therefore one ,cause4 ,one ,omnipotent there is whose will is done1 whose character is shown in all we see and all we cannot see1 the issues of endless strife1 the long results of perennial evolution4 ,but then comes the question1 ,what is ,his character1 of what spirit is ,he who alone rules1 who sends after the calm the fierce storm1 after the beauty of life the corruption of death8 ,and one may say the struggle between ,bible religion and modern science is on this very field4 ,cold heartless power1 say some2 no ,father1 but an impersonal ,will to which men are nothing1 human joy and love nothing1 to which the fair blossom is no more than the clod1 and the holy prayer no better than the vile sneer4 ,on this1 faith arises to the struggle4 ,faith warm and hopeful takes reason into counsel1 searches the springs of existence1 goes forth into the future and forecasts the end1 that it may affirm and reaffirm against all denial that ,one ,omnipotent reigns who is all-loving1 the ,father of infinite mercy4 ,here is the arena2 here the conflict rages and will rage for many a day4 ,and to him will belong the laurels of the age who1 with the ,bible in one hand and the instruments of science in the other1 effects the reconciliation of faith with fact4 ,tennyson came with the questions of our day4 ,he passes and has not given a satisfactory answer4 ,carlyle has gone with the ,everlasting ,yea and ,no beating through his oracles4 ,even ,browning1 a later athlete1 did not find complete reason for faith4 ,from ,thy will stream the worlds1 life1 and nature1 ,thy dread sabaoth4 ,now return to ,job4 ,he considers nature2 he believes in ,god2 he stands firmly on the conviction that all is of ,god4 ,hebrew faith held this1 and was not limited in holding it1 for it is the fact4 ,but we cannot wonder that providence disconcerted him1 since the reconciliation of merciless nature and the merciful ,god is not even yet wrought out4 ,notwithstanding the revelation of ,christ1 many still find themselves in darkness just when light is most urgently craved4 ,willing to believe1 they yet lean to a dualism which makes ,god ,himself appear in conflict with the scheme of things1 thwarted now and now repentant1 gracious in design but not always in effect4 ,now the limitation of the ,hebrew was this1 that to his idea the infinite power of ,god was not balanced by infinite mercy1 that is1 by regard to the whole work of ,his hands4 ,in one stormy dash after another ,job is made to attempt this barrier4 ,at moments he is lifted beyond it1 and sees the great universe filled with ,divine care that equals power2 for the present1 however1 he distinguishes between merciful intent and merciless1 and ascribes both to ,god4 ,what does he say8 ,god is in the deceived and in the deceiver2 they are both products of nature1 that is1 creatures of ,god4 ,he increaseth the nations and destroyeth them4 ,cities arise and become populous4 ,the great metropolis is filled with its myriads1 among whom are six-score thousand that cannot discern between their right hand and their left4 ,the city shall fulfil its cycle and perish4 ,it is ,god4 ,searching for reconciliation ,job looks the facts of human existence right in the face1 and he sees a confusion1 the whole enigma which lies in the constitution of the world and of the soul4 ,observe how his thought moves4 ,the beasts1 the fowls of the air1 the fishes of the sea1 all living beings everywhere1 not self-created1 with no power to shape or resist their destiny1 bear witness to the almightiness of ,god4 ,in ,his hand is the lower creation2 in ,his hand also1 rising higher1 is the breath of all mankind4 ,absolute1 universal is that power1 dispensing life and death as it broods over the ages4 ,men have sought to understand the ways of the ,great ,being4 ,the ear trieth words as the mouth tasteth meat4 ,is there wisdom with the ancient1 those who live long1 as ,bildad says8 ,yes3 but with ,god are wisdom and strength2 not penetration only1 but power4 ,he discerns and does4 ,he demolishes1 and there is no rebuilding4 ,man is imprisoned1 shut up by misfortune1 by disease4 ,it is ,god's decree1 and there is no opening till ,he allows4 ,at ,his will the waters are dried up2 at ,his will they pour in torrents over the earth4 ,and so amongst men there are currents of evil and good flowing through lives1 here in the liar and cheat1 there in the victim of knavery2 here in the counsellors whose plans come to nothing1 there in the judges whose sagacity is changed to folly2 and all these currents and cross-currents1 making life a bewildering maze1 have their beginning in the will of ,god1 who seems to take pleasure in doing what is strange and baffling4 ,kings take men captive2 the bonds of the captives are loosed1 and the kings themselves are bound4 ,what are princes and priests1 what are the mighty to ,him8 ,what is the speech of the eloquent8 ,where is the understanding of the aged when ,he spreads confusion8 ,deep as in the very gloom of the grave the ambitious may hide their schemes2 the flux of events brings them out to judgment1 one cannot foresee how4 ,nations are raised up and destroyed2 the chiefs of the people are made to fear like children4 ,trusted leaders wander in a wilderness2 they grope in midnight gloom2 they stagger like the drunken4 ,behold1 says ,job1 all this ,i have seen4 ,this is ,god's doing4 ,and with this great ,god he would speak2 he1 a man1 would have things out with the ,lord of all 7chap4 xiii4 #c74 ,this impetuous passage1 full of revolution1 disaster1 vast mutations1 a phantasmagoria of human struggle and defeat1 while it supplies a note of time and gives a distinct clue to the writer's position as an ,israelite1 is remarkable for the faith that survives its apparent pessimism4 ,others have surveyed the world and the history of change1 and have protested with their last voice against the cruelty that seemed to rule4 ,as for any ,god1 they could never trust one whose will and power were to be found alike in the craft of the deceiver and the misery of the victim1 in the baffling of sincere thought and the overthrow of the honest with the vile4 ,but ,job trusts on4 ,beneath every enigma1 he looks for reason2 beyond every disaster1 to a ,divine end4 ,the voices of men have come between him and the voice of the ,supreme4 ,personal disaster has come between him and his sense of ,god4 ,his thought is not free4 ,if it were1 he would catch the reconciling word1 his soul would hear the music of eternity4 ,i would reason with ,god4 ,he clings to ,god-given reason as his instrument of discovery4 99 99 99 99 99 ,very bold is this whole position1 and very reverent also1 if you will think of it2 far more honouring to ,god than any attempt of the friends who1 as ,job says1 appear to hold the ,almighty no better than a petty chief1 so insecure in ,his position that ,he must be grateful to any one who will justify ,his deeds4 ,poor ,god1 with nobody to help ,him4 ,job uses all his irony in exposing the folly of such a religion1 the impertinence of presenting it to him as a solution and a help4 ,in short1 he tells them1 they are pious quacks1 and1 as he will have none of them for his part1 he thinks ,god will not either4 ,the author is at the very heart of religion here4 ,the word of reproof and correction1 the plea for providence must go straight to the reason of man1 or it is of no use4 ,the word of the ,lord must be a two-edged sword of truth1 piercing to the dividing asunder even of soul and spirit4 ,that is to say1 into the centre of energy the truth must be driven which kills the spirit of rebellion1 so that the will of man1 set free1 may come into conscious and passionate accord with the will of ,god4 ,but reconciliation is impossible unless each will deal in the utmost sincerity with truth1 realising the facts of existence1 the nature of the soul and the great necessities of its discipline4 ,to be true in theology we must not accept what seems to be true1 nor speak forensically1 but affirm what we have proved in our own life and gathered in utmost effort from ,scripture and from nature4 ,men inherit opinions as they used to inherit garments1 or devise them1 like clothes of a new fashion1 and from within the folds they speak1 not as men but as priests1 what is the right thing according to a received theory4 ,it will not do4 ,even of old time a man like the author of ,job turned contemptuously from school-made explanations and sought a living word4 ,in our age the number of those whose fever can be lulled with a working theory of religion and a judicious arrangement of the universe is rapidly becoming small4 ,theology is being driven to look the facts of life full in the face4 ,if the world has learned anything from modern science1 it is the habit of rigorous research and the justification of free inquiry1 and the lesson will never be unlearned4 ,to take one error of theology4 ,all men are concluded equally under ,god's wrath and curse2 then the proofs of the malediction are found in trouble1 fear and pain4 ,but what comes of this teaching8 ,out in the world1 with facts forcing themselves on consciousness1 the scheme is found hollow4 ,all are not in trouble and pain4 ,those who are afflicted and disappointed are often sincere ,christians4 ,a theory of deferred judgment and happiness is made for escape2 it does not1 however1 in the least enable one to comprehend how1 if pain and trouble be the consequences of sin1 they should not be distributed rightly from the first4 ,a universal moral order cannot begin in a manner so doubtful1 so very difficult for the wayfaring man to read as he goes4 ,to hold that it can is to turn religion into an occultism which at every point bewilders the simple mind4 ,the theory is one which tends to blunt the sense of sin in those who are prosperous1 and to beget that confident ,pharisaism which is the curse of church-life4 ,on the other hand1 the sacrificed classes1 contrasting their own moral character with that of the frivolous and fleshly rich1 are forced to throw over a theology which binds together sin and suffering1 and to deny a ,god whose equity is so far to seek4 ,and yet1 again1 in the recoil from all this men invent wersh schemes of bland good-will and comfort1 which have simply nothing to do with the facts of life1 no basis in the world as we know it1 no sense of the rigour of ,divine love4 ,so ,eliphaz1 ,bildad and ,zophar remain with us and confuse theology until some think it lost in unreason4 ,but ye are patchers of lies1 ,physicians of nought are ye all4 ,oh that ye would only keep silence1 ,and it should be your wisdom4 7chap4 xiii4 #d1 #e74 ,job sets them down with a current proverb--,even a fool1 when he holdeth his peace1 is counted wise4 ,he begs them to be silent4 ,they shall now hear his rebuke4 ,on behalf of ,god will ye speak wrong8 ,and for ,him will ye speak deceit8 ,will ye be partisans for ,him8 ,or for ,god will ye contend8 ,job finds them guilty of speaking falsely as special pleaders for ,god in two respects4 ,they insist that he has offended ,god1 but they cannot point to one sin which he has committed4 ,on the other hand1 they affirm positively that ,god will restore prosperity if confession is made4 ,but in this too they play the part of advocates without warrant4 ,they show great presumption in daring to pledge the ,almighty to a course in accordance with their idea of justice4 ,the issue might be what they predict2 it might not4 ,they are venturing on ground to which their knowledge does not extend4 ,they think their presumption justified because it is for religion's sake4 ,job administers a sound rebuke1 and it extends to our own time4 ,special pleaders for ,god's sovereign and unconditional right and for ,his illimitable good-nature1 alike have warning here4 ,what justification have men in affirming that ,god will work out ,his problems in detail according to their views8 ,he has given to us the power to apprehend the great principles of ,his working4 ,he has revealed much in nature1 providence1 and ,scripture1 and in ,christ2 but there is the hiding of ,his power1 ,his path is in the mighty waters1 and ,his judgments are not known4 ,christ has said1 ,it is not for you to know times and seasons which the ,father hath set within ,his own authority4 ,there are certainties of our consciousness1 facts of the world and of revelation from which we can argue4 ,where these confirm1 we may dogmatise1 and the dogma will strike home4 ,but no piety1 no desire to vindicate the ,almighty or to convict and convert the sinner1 can justify any man in passing beyond the certainty which ,god has given him to that unknown which lies far above human ken4 ,he will surely correct you ,if in secret ye are partial4 ,shall not ,his majesty terrify you1 ,and ,his dread fall upon you8 7chap4 xiii4 #aj1 #aa74 ,the ,book of ,job1 while it brands insincerity and loose reasoning1 justifies all honest and reverent research4 ,here1 as in the teaching of our ,lord1 the real heretic is he who is false to his own reason and conscience1 to the truth of things as ,god gives him to apprehend it1 who1 in short1 makes believe to any extent in the sphere of religion4 ,and it is upon this man the terror of the ,divine majesty is to fall4 ,we saw how ,bildad established himself on the wisdom of the ancients4 ,recalling this1 ,job flings contempt on his traditional sayings4 ,your remembrances are proverbs of ashes1 ,your defences1 defences of dust4 ,did they mean to smite him with those proverbs as with stones8 ,they were ashes4 ,did they intrench themselves from the assaults of reason behind old suppositions8 ,their ramparts were mere dust4 ,once more he bids them hold their peace1 and let him alone that he may speak out all that is in his mind4 ,it is1 he knows1 at the hazard of his life he goes forward2 but he will4 ,the case in which he is can have no remedy excepting by an appeal to ,god1 and that final appeal he will make4 ,now the proper beginning of this appeal is in the twenty-third verse1 with the words3 ,how many are mine iniquities and my sins8 ,but before ,job reaches it he expresses his sense of the danger and difficulty under which he lies1 interweaving with the statement of these a marvellous confidence in the result of what he is about to do4 ,referring to the declarations of his friends as to the danger that yet threatens if he will not confess sin1 he uses a proverbial expression for hazard of life4 ,why do ,i take my flesh in my teeth1 ,and put my life in my hand8 ,why do ,i incur this danger1 do you say8 ,never mind4 ,it is not your affair4 ,for bare existence ,i care nothing4 ,to escape with mere consciousness for a while is no object to me1 as ,i now am4 ,with my life in my hand ,i hasten to ,god4 ,lo6 ,he will slay me3 ,i will not delay-- ,yet my ways will ,i maintain before ,him 7chap4 xiii4 #ae74 ,the old ,version here1 ,though ,he slay me1 yet will ,i trust in ,him1 is inaccurate4 ,still it is not far from expressing the brave purpose of the man--prostrate before ,god1 yet resolved to cling to the justice of the case as he apprehends it1 assured that this will not only be excused by ,god1 but will bring about his acquittal or salvation4 ,to grovel in the dust1 confessing himself a miserable sinner more than worthy of all the sufferings he has undergone1 while in his heart he has the consciousness of being upright and faithful--this would not commend him to the ,judge of all the earth4 ,it would be a mockery of truth and righteousness1 therefore of ,god ,himself4 ,on the other hand1 to maintain his integrity which ,god gave him1 to go on maintaining it at the hazard of all1 is his only course1 his only safety4 ,this also shall be my salvation1 ,for a godless man shall not live before ,him4 ,the fine moral instinct of ,job1 giving courage to his theology1 declares that ,god demands truth in the inward parts and truth in speech--that man consists in truth--that if he betrays truth he betrays himself1 which is a crime against his ,maker4 ,no man is so much in danger of separating himself from ,god and losing everything as he who acts or speaks against conviction4 ,job has declared his hazard1 that he is lying helpless before ,almighty ,power which may in a moment crush him4 ,he has also expressed his faith1 that approaching ,god in the courage of truth he will not be rejected1 that absolute sincerity will alone give him a claim on the ,infinitely ,true4 ,now turning to his friends as if in new defiance1 he says3-- ,hear diligently my speech1 ,and my explanation with your ears4 ,behold now1 ,i have ordered my cause2 ,i know that ,i shall be justified4 ,who is he that will contend with me8 ,for then would ,i hold my peace and expire4 ,that is to say1 he has reviewed his life once more1 he has considered all possibilities of transgression1 and yet his contention remains4 ,so much does he build upon his claim on ,god that1 if any one could now convict him1 his heart would fail1 life would no more be worth living2 the foundation of hope destroyed1 conflict would be at an end4 ,but with his plea to ,god still in view he expresses once more his sense of the disadvantage under which he lies4 ,the pressure of the ,divine hand is upon him still1 a sore enervating terror which bears upon his soul4 ,would ,god but give him respite for a little from the pain and the fear1 then he would be ready either to answer the summons of the ,judge or make his own demand for vindication4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we may suppose an interval of release from pain or at least a pause of expectancy1 and then1 in verse twenty-third1 ,job begins his cry4 ,the language is less vehement than we have heard4 ,it has more of the pathos of weak human life4 ,he is one with that race of thinking1 feeling1 suffering creatures who are tossed about on the waves of existence1 driven before the winds of change like autumn leaves4 ,it is the plea of human feebleness and mortality we hear1 and then1 as the still sad music touches the lowest note of wailing1 there mingles with it the strain of hope4 ,how many are mine iniquities and sins8 ,make me to know my transgression and my sin4 ,we are not to understand here that ,job confesses great transgressions1 nor1 contrariwise1 that he denies infirmity and error in himself4 ,there are no doubt failures of his youth which remain in memory1 sins of desire1 errors of ignorance1 mistakes in conduct such as the best men fall into4 ,these he does not deny4 ,but righteousness and happiness have been represented as a profit and loss account1 and therefore ,job wishes to hear from ,god a statement in exact form of all he has done amiss or failed to do1 so that he may be able to see the relation between fault and suffering1 his faults and his sufferings1 if such relation there be4 ,it appears that ,god is counting him an enemy 7ver4 #bd74 ,he would like to have the reason for that4 ,so far as he knows himself he has sought to obey and honour the ,almighty4 ,certainly there has never been in his heart any conscious desire to resist the will of ,eloah4 ,is it then for transgressions unwittingly committed that he now suffers--for sins he did not intend or know of8 ,god is just4 ,it is surely a part of ,his justice to make a sufferer aware why such terrible afflictions befal him4 ,and then--is it worth while for the ,almighty to be so hard on a poor weak mortal8 ,wilt thou scare a driven leaf-- ,wilt thou pursue the dry stubble-- ,that thou writest bitter judgments against me1 ,and makest me to possess the faults of my youth1 ,and puttest my feet in the stocks1 ,and watchest all my paths1 ,and drawest a line about the soles of my feet-- ,one who as a rotten thing is consuming1 ,as a garment that is moth-eaten8 ,the sense of rigid restraint and pitiable decay was perhaps never expressed with so fit and vivid imagery4 ,so far it is personal4 ,then begins a general lamentation regarding the sad fleeting life of man4 ,his own prosperity1 which passed as a dream1 has become to ,job a type of the brief vain existence of the race tried at every moment by inexorable ,divine judgment2 and the low mournful words of the ,arabian chief have echoed ever since in the language of sorrow and loss4 ,man that is born of woman1 ,of few days is he and full of trouble4 ,like the flower he springs up and withers2 ,like a shadow he flees and stays not4 ,is it on such a one ,thou hast fixed ,thine eye8 ,bringest ,thou me into ,thy judgment8 ,oh that the clean might come out of the unclean6 ,but there is not one4 ,human frailty is both of the body and of the soul2 and it is universal4 ,the nativity of men forbids their purity4 ,well does ,god know the weakness of ,his creatures2 and why then does ,he expect of them1 if indeed ,he expects1 a pureness that can stand the test of ,his searching8 ,job cannot be free from the common infirmity of mortals4 ,he is born of woman4 ,but why then is he chased with inquiry1 haunted and scared by a righteousness he cannot satisfy8 ,should not the ,great ,god be forbearing with a man8 ,since his days are determined1 ,the number of his moons with ,thee1 ,and ,thou hast set him bounds not to be passed2 ,look ,thou away from him1 that he may rest1 ,at least fulfil as a hireling his day4 ,man's life being so short1 his death so sure and soon1 seeing he is like a hireling in the world1 might he not be allowed a little rest8 might he not1 as one who has fulfilled his day's work1 be let go for a little repose ere he die8 ,that certain death1 it weighs upon him now1 pressing down his thought4 ,for even a tree hath hope2 ,if it be hewn down it will sprout anew1 ,the young shoot thereof will not fail4 ,if in the earth its root wax old1 ,or in the ground its stock should die1 ,yet at the scent of water it will spring1 ,and shoot forth boughs like a new plant4 ,but a man3 he dies and is cut off2 ,yea1 when men die1 they are gone4 ,ebbs away the water from the sea1 ,and the stream decays and dries3 ,so when men have lain down they rise not2 ,till the heavens vanish they never awake1 ,nor are they roused from their sleep4 ,no arguments1 no promises can break this deep gloom and silence into which the life of man passes4 ,once ,job had sought death2 now a desire has grown within him1 and with it recoil from ,sheol4 ,to meet ,god1 to obtain his own justification and the clearing of ,divine righteousness1 to have the problem of life explained--the hope of this makes life precious4 ,is he to lie down and rise no more while the skies endure8 ,is no voice to reach him from the heavenly justice he has always confided in8 ,the very thought is confounding4 ,if he were now to desire death it would mean that he had given up all faith1 that justice1 truth1 and even the ,divine name of ,eloah had ceased to have any value for him4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we are to behold the rise of a new hope1 like a star in the firmament of his thought4 ,whence does it spring8 ,the religion of the ,book of ,job1 as already shown1 is1 in respect of form1 a natural religion2 that is to say1 the ideas are not derived from the ,hebrew ,scriptures4 ,the writer does not refer to the legislation of ,moses and the great words of prophets4 ,the expression ,as the ,lord said unto ,moses does not occur in this book1 nor any equivalent4 ,it is through nature and the human consciousness that the religious beliefs of the poem appear to have come into shape4 ,yet two facts are to be kept fully in view4 ,the first is that even a natural religion must not be supposed to be a thing of man's invention1 with no origin further than his dreams4 ,we must not declare all religious ideas outside those of ,israel to be mere fictions of the human fancy or happy guesses at truth4 ,the religion of ,teman may have owed some of its great thoughts to ,israel4 ,but1 apart from that1 a basis of ,divine revelation is always laid wherever men think and live4 ,in every land the heart of man has borne witness to ,god4 ,reverent thought1 dwelling on justice1 truth1 mercy1 and all virtues found in the range of experience and consciousness1 came through them to the idea of ,god4 ,every one who made an induction as to the ,great ,unseen ,being1 his mind open to the facts of nature and his own moral constitution1 was in a sense a prophet4 ,as far as they went1 the reality and value of religious ideas1 so reached1 are acknowledged by ,bible writers themselves4 ,the invisible things of ,god from the creation of the world are clearly seen1 being perceived through the things that are made1 even ,his everlasting power and divinity4 ,god has always been revealing ,himself to men4 ,natural religion we say3 and yet1 since ,god is always revealing ,himself and has made all men more or less capable of apprehending the revelation1 even the natural is supernatural4 ,take the religion of ,egypt1 or of ,chalda1 or of ,persia4 ,you may contrast any one of these with the religion of ,israel2 you may call the one natural1 the other revealed4 ,but the ,persian speaking of the ,great ,good ,spirit or the ,chaldan worshipping a supreme ,lord must have had some kind of revelation2 and his sense of it1 not clear indeed1 far enough below that of ,moses or ,isaiah1 was yet a forth-reaching towards the same light as now shines for us4 ,next we must keep it in view that ,job does not appear as a thinker building on himself alone1 depending on his own religious experience4 ,centuries and ages of thought are behind these beliefs which are ascribed to him1 even the ideas which seem to start up freshly as the result of original discovery4 ,imagine a man thinking for himself about ,divine things in that far-away ,arabian past4 ,his mind1 to begin with1 is not a blank4 ,his father has instructed him4 ,there is a faith that has come down from many generations4 ,he has found words in use which hold in them religious ideas1 discoveries1 perceptions of ,divine reality1 caught and fixed ages before4 ,when he learned language the products of evolution1 not only psychical1 but intellectual and spiritual1 became his4 ,eloah1 the lofty one1 the righteousness of ,eloah1 the word of ,eloah1 ,eloah as ,creator1 as ,watcher of men1 ,eloah as wise1 unsearchable in wisdom1 as strong1 infinitely mighty1--these are ideas he has not struck out for himself1 but inherited4 ,clearly then a new thought1 springing from these1 comes as a supernatural communication and has behind it ages of spiritual evolution4 ,it is new1 but has its root in the old2 it is natural1 but originates in the over-nature4 ,now the primitive religion of the ,semites1 the race to which ,job belonged1 to which also the ,hebrews belonged1 has been of late carefully studied2 and with regard to it certain things have been established that bear on the new hope we are to find struck out by the ,man of ,uz4 ,in the early morning of religious thought among those ,semites it was universally believed that the members of a family or tribe1 united by blood-relationship to each other1 were also related in the same way to their ,god4 ,he was their father1 the invisible head and source of their community1 on whom they had a claim so long as they pleased him4 ,his interest in them was secured by the sacrificial meal which he was invited and believed to share with them4 ,if he had been offended1 the sacrificial offering was the means of recovering his favour2 and communion with him in those meals and sacrifices was the inheritance of all who claimed the kinship of that clan or tribe4 ,with the clearing of spiritual vision this belief took a new form in the minds of the more thoughtful4 ,the idea of communion remained and the necessity of it to the life of the worshipper was felt even more strongly when the kinship of the ,god with his subject family was1 for the few at least1 no longer an affair of physical descent and blood-relationship1 but of spiritual origin and attachment4 ,and when faith rose from the tribal god to the idea of the ,heaven-,father1 the one ,creator and ,king1 communion with ,him was felt to be in the highest sense a vital necessity4 ,here is found the religion of ,job4 ,a main element of it was communion with ,eloah1 an ethical kinship with ,him1 no arbitrary or merely physical relation1 but of the spirit4 ,that is to say1 ,job has at the heart of his creed the truth as to man's origin and nature4 ,the author of the book is a ,hebrew2 his own faith is that of the people from whom we have the ,book of ,genesis2 but he treats here of man's relation to ,god from the ethnic side1 such as may be taken now by a reasoner treating of spiritual evolution4 ,communion with ,eloah had been ,job's life1 and with it had been associated his many years of wealth1 dignity1 and influence4 ,lest his children should fall from it and lose their most precious inheritance1 he used to bring the periodical offerings4 ,but at length his own communion was interrupted4 ,the sense of being at one with ,eloah1 if not lost1 became dull and faint4 ,it is for the restoration of his very life--not as we might think of religious feeling1 but of actual spirit energy--he is now concerned4 ,it is this that underlies his desire for ,god to speak with him1 his demand for an opportunity of pleading his cause4 ,some might expect that he would ask his friends to offer sacrifice on his behalf4 ,but he makes no such request4 ,the crisis has come in a region higher than sacrifice1 where observances are of no use4 ,thought only can reach it2 the discovery of reconciling truth alone can satisfy4 ,sacrifices which for the old world sustained the relation with ,god could no more for ,job restore the intimacy of the spiritual ,lord4 ,with a passion for this fellowship keener than ever1 since he now more distinctly realises what it is1 a fear blends in the heart of the man4 ,death will be upon him soon4 ,severed from ,god he will fall away into the privation of that world where is neither praise nor service1 knowledge nor device4 ,yet the truth which lies at the heart of his religion does not yield4 ,leaning all upon it1 he finds it strong1 elastic4 ,he sees at least a possibility of reconciliation2 for how can the way back to ,god ever be quite closed8 ,what difficulty there was in his effort we know4 ,to the common thought of the time when this book was written1 say that of ,hezekiah1 the state of the dead was not extinction indeed1 but an existence of extreme tenuity and feebleness4 ,in ,sheol there was nothing active4 ,the hollow ghost of the man was conceived of as neither hoping nor fearing1 neither originating nor receiving impressions4 ,yet ,job dares to anticipate that even in ,sheol a set time of remembrance will be ordained for him and he shall hear the thrilling call of ,god4 ,as it approaches this climax the poem flashes and glows with prophetic fire4 ,oh that ,thou would'st hide me in ,sheol1 ,that ,thou would'st keep me secret until ,thy wrath be past1 ,that ,thou would'st appoint a set time1 and remember me6 ,if a 7strong7 man die1 shall he live8 ,all the days of my appointed time would ,i wait ,till my release came4 ,thou would'st call1 ,i would answer ,thee2 ,thou would'st have a desire to the work of ,thy hands4 ,not easily can we now realise the extraordinary step forward made in thought when the anticipation was thrown out of spiritual life going on beyond death 7would ,i wait71 retaining intellectual potency in that region otherwise dark and void to the human imagination 7,i would answer ,thee74 ,from both the human side and the ,divine the poet has advanced a magnificent intuition1 a springing arch into which he is unable to fit the keystone--the spiritual body2 for ,he only could do this who long afterwards came to be ,himself the ,resurrection and the ,life4 ,but when this poem of ,job had been given to the world a new thought was implanted in the soul of the race1 a new hope that should fight against the darkness of ,sheol till that morning when the sunrise fell upon an empty sepulchre1 and one standing in the light asked of sorrowful men1 ,why seek ye the living among the dead8 ,thou would'st have a desire to the work of ,thy hands4 ,what a philosophy of ,divine care underlies the words6 ,they come with a force ,job seems hardly to realise4 ,is there a ,high ,one who makes men in ,his own image1 capable of fine achievement1 and then casts them away in discontent or loathing8 ,the voice of the poet rings in a passionate key because he rises to a thought practically new to the human mind4 ,he has broken through barriers both of faith and doubt into the light of his hope and stands trembling on the verge of another world4 ,one must have had a keen perception of the profound relation between the creature and his ,maker in the past to be able to give utterance to such an imaginative expectation respecting the future4 ,but the wrath of ,god still appears to rest upon ,job's life2 still ,he seems to keep in reserve1 sealed up1 unrevealed1 some record of transgressions for which ,he has condemned ,his servant4 ,from the height of hope ,job falls away into an abject sense of the decay and misery to which man is brought by the continued rigour of ,eloah's examination4 ,as with shocks of earthquake mountains are broken1 and waters by constant flowing wash down the soil and the plants rooted in it1 so human life is wasted by the ,divine severity4 ,in the world the children whom a man loved are exalted or brought low1 but he knows nothing of it4 ,his flesh corrupts in the grave and his soul in ,sheol languishes4 ,thou destroyest the hope of man4 ,thou ever prevailest against him1 and he passeth2 ,thou changest his countenance and sendest him away4 ,the real is at this point so grim and insistent as to shut off the ideal and confine thought again to its own range4 ,the energy of the prophetic mind is overborne1 and unintelligible fact surrounds and presses hard the struggling personality4 ,,the ,,second ,,colloquy4 ,,xiii4 ,,the ,,tradition ,,of ,a ,,pure ,,race4 ,,eliphaz ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 xv4 ,the first colloquy has made clear severance between the old ,theology and the facts of human life4 ,no positive reconciliation is effected as yet between reality and faith1 no new reading of ,divine providence has been offered4 ,the author allows the friends on the one hand1 ,job on the other1 to seek the end of controversy just as men in their circumstances would in real life have sought it4 ,unable to penetrate behind the veil the one side clings obstinately to the ancestral faith1 on the other side the persecuted sufferer strains after a hope of vindication apart from any return of health and prosperity1 which he dares not expect4 ,one of the conditions of the problem is the certainty of death4 ,before death1 repentance and restoration1--say the friends4 ,death immediate1 therefore should ,god hear me1 vindicate me1--says ,job4 ,in desperation he breaks through to the hope that ,god's wrath will pass even though his scared and harrowed life be driven into ,sheol4 ,for a moment he sees the light2 then it seems to expire4 ,to the orthodox friends any such thought is a kind of blasphemy4 ,they believe in the nullity of the state beyond death4 ,there is no wisdom nor hope in the grave4 ,the dead know not anything1 neither have they any more a reward2 for the memory of them is forgotten--even by ,god4 ,as well their love1 as their hatred and their envy1 is now perished2 neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun 7,eccles4 ix4 #e1 #f74 ,on the mind of ,job this dark shadow falls and hides the star of his hope4 ,to pass away under the reprobation of men and of ,god1 to suffer the final stroke and be lost for ever in the deep darkness2--anticipating this1 how can he do otherwise than make a desperate fight for his own consciousness of right and for ,god's intervention while yet any breath is left in him8 ,he persists in this4 ,the friends do not approach him one step in thought2 instead of being moved by his pathetic entreaties they draw back into more bigoted judgment4 ,in opening the new circle of debate ,eliphaz might be expected to yield a little1 to admit something in the claim of the sufferer1 granting at least for the sake of argument that his case is hard4 ,but the writer wishes to show the rigour and determination of the old creed1 or rather of the men who preach it4 ,he will not allow them one sign of rapprochement4 ,in the same order as before the three advance their theory1 making no attempt to explain the facts of human existence to which their attention has been called4 ,between the first and the second round there is1 indeed1 a change of position1 but in the line of greater hardness4 ,the change is thus marked4 ,each of the three1 differing toto clo from ,job's view of his case1 had introduced an encouraging promise4 ,eliphaz had spoken of six troubles1 yea seven1 from which one should be delivered if he accepted the chastening of the ,lord4 ,bildad affirmed ,behold1 ,god will not cast away the perfect3 ,he will yet fill thy mouth with laughter ,and thy lips with shouting4 ,zophar had said that if ,job would put away iniquity he should be led into fearless calm4 ,thou shall be steadfast and not fear1 ,for thou shalt forget thy misery2 ,remember it as waters that are passed by4 ,that is a note of the first series of arguments2 we hear nothing of it in the second4 ,one after another drives home a stern1 uncompromising judgment4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the dramatic art of the author has introduced several touches into the second speech of ,eliphaz which maintain the personality4 ,for example1 the formula ,i have seen is carried on from the former address where it repeatedly occurs1 and is now used quite incidentally1 therefore with all the more effect4 ,again the crafty are spoken of in both addresses with contempt and aversion1 neither of the other interlocutors of ,job nor ,job himself using the word4 ,the thought of chap4 xv4 #ae is also the same as that ventured upon in chap4 iv4 #ah1 a return to the oracle which gave ,eliphaz his claim to be a prophet4 ,meanwhile he adopts from ,bildad the appeal to ancient belief in support of his position2 but he has an original way of enforcing this appeal4 ,as a pure ,temanite he is animated by the pride of race and claims more for his progenitors than could be allowed to a ,shuchite or ,naamathite1 more1 certainly1 than could be allowed to one who dwelt among worshippers of the sun and moon4 ,as a whole the thought of ,eliphaz remains what it was1 but more closely brought to a point4 ,he does not wander now in search of possible explanations4 ,he fancies that ,job has convicted himself and that little remains but to show most definitely the fate he seems bent on provoking4 ,it will be a kindness to impress this on his mind4 ,the first part of the address1 extending to verse #ac1 is an expostulation with ,job1 whom in irony he calls wise4 ,should a wise man use empty unprofitable talk1 filling his bosom1 as it were1 with the east wind1 peculiarly blustering and arid8 ,yet what ,job says is not only unprofitable1 it is profane4 ,thou doest away with piety ,and hinderest devotion before ,god4 ,for thine iniquity instructs thy mouth1 ,and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty4 ,thine own mouth condemneth thee2 not ,i2 ,thine own lips testify against thee4 ,eliphaz is thoroughly sincere4 ,some of the expressions used by his friend must have seemed to him to strike at the root of reverence4 ,which were they8 ,one was the affirmation that tents of robbers prosper and they that provoke ,god are secure2 another the daring statement that the deceived and the deceiver are both ,god's2 again the confident defence of his own life3 ,behold now ,i have ordered my cause1 ,i know that ,i am righteous2 who is he that will contend with me8 and once more his demand why ,god harassed him1 a driven leaf1 treating him with oppressive cruelty4 ,things like these were very offensive to a mind surcharged with veneration and occupied with a single idea of ,divine government4 ,from the first convinced that gross fault or arrogant self-will had brought down the malediction of ,god1 ,eliphaz could not but think that ,job's iniquity was teaching his mouth 7coming out in his speech1 forcing him to profane expressions71 and that he was choosing the tongue of the crafty4 ,it seemed that he was trying to throw dust in their eyes4 ,with the cunning and shiftiness of a man who hoped to carry off his evil-doing1 he had talked of maintaining his ways before ,god and being vindicated in that region where1 as every one knew1 recovery was impossible4 ,the ground of all certainty and belief was shaken by those vehement words4 ,eliphaz felt that piety was done away and devotion hindered1 he could scarcely breathe a prayer in this atmosphere foul with scepticism and blasphemy4 ,the writer means us to enter into the feelings of this man1 to think with him1 for the time1 sympathetically4 ,it is no moral fault to be over-jealous for the ,almighty1 although it is a misconception of man's place and duty1 as ,elijah learned in the wilderness1 when1 having claimed to be the only believer left1 he was told there were seven thousand that never bowed the knee to ,baal4 ,the speaker has this justification1 that he does not assume office as advocate for ,god4 ,his religion is part of him1 his feeling of shock and disturbance quite natural4 ,blind to the unfairness of the situation he does not consider the incivility of joining with two others to break down one sick bereaved man1 to scare a driven leaf4 ,this is accidental4 ,controversy begun1 a pious man is bound to carry on1 as long as may be necessary1 the argument which is to save a soul4 ,nevertheless1 being human1 he mingles a tone of sarcasm as he proceeds4 ,the first man wast thou born8 ,or wast thou made before the hills8 ,did'st thou hearken in the conclave of ,god8 ,and dost thou keep the wisdom to thyself8 ,job had accused his friends of speaking unrighteously for ,god and respecting ,his person4 ,this pricked4 ,instead of replying in soft words as he claims to have been doing hitherto 7,are the consolations of ,god too small for thee and a word that dealt tenderly with thee871 ,eliphaz takes to the sarcastic proverb4 ,the author reserves dramatic gravity and passion for ,job1 as a rule1 and marks the others by varying tones of intellectual hardness1 of current raillery4 ,eliphaz now is permitted to show more of the self-defender than the defender of faith4 ,the result is a loss of dignity4 ,what knowest thou that we know not8 ,what understandest thou that is not in us8 ,after all it is man's reason against man's reason4 ,the answer will only come in the judgment of the ,highest4 ,with us is he who is both grey-haired and very old1 ,older in days than thy father4 ,not ,eliphaz himself surely4 ,that would be to claim too great antiquity4 ,besides1 it seems a little wanting in sense4 ,more probably there is reference to some aged rabbi1 such as every community loved to boast of1 the ,nestor of the clan1 full of ancient wisdom4 ,eliphaz really believes that to be old is to be near the fountain of truth4 ,there was an origin of faith and pure life4 ,the fathers were nearer that holy source2 and wisdom meant going back as far as possible up the stream4 ,to insist on this was to place a real barrier in the way of ,job's self-defence4 ,he would scarcely deny it as the theory of religion4 ,what then of his individual protest1 his philosophy of the hour and of his own wishes8 ,the conflict is presented here with much subtlety1 a standing controversy in human thought4 ,fixed principles there must be2 personal research1 experience and passion there are1 new with every new age4 ,how settle the antithesis8 ,the ,catholic doctrine has not yet been struck out that will fuse in one commanding law the immemorial convictions of the race and the widening visions of the living soul4 ,the agitation of the church to-day is caused by the presence within her of ,eliphaz and ,job--,eliphaz standing for the fathers and their faith1 ,job passing through a fever-crisis of experience and finding no remedy in the old interpretations4 ,the church is apt to say1 ,here is moral disease1 sin2 we have nothing for that but rebuke and aversion4 ,is it wonderful that the tried life1 conscious of integrity1 rises in indignant revolt8 ,the taunt of sin1 scepticism1 rationalism or self-will is too ready a weapon1 a sword worn always by the side or carried in the hand4 ,within the ,house of ,god men should not go armed1 as if brethren in ,christ might be expected to prove traitors4 ,the question of the eleventh verse--,are the consolations of ,god too small for thee8--is intended to cover the whole of the arguments already used by the friends and is arrogant enough as implying a ,divine commission exercised by them4 ,the word that dealt tenderly with thee1 says ,eliphaz2 but ,job has his own idea of the tenderness and seems to convey it by an expressive gesture or glance which provokes a retort almost angry from the speaker1-- ,why doth thine heart carry thee away1 ,and why do thine eyes wink1 ,that thou turnest thy breathing against ,god1 ,and sendest words out of thy mouth8 ,we may understand a brief emphatic word of repudiation not unmixed with contempt and1 at the same time1 not easy to lay hold of4 ,eliphaz now feels that he may properly insist on the wickedness of man--painfully illustrated in ,job himself--and depict the certain fate of him who defies the ,almighty and trusts in his own vanity4 ,the passage is from first to last repetition1 but has new colour of the quasi-prophetic kind and a certain force and eloquence that give it fresh interest4 ,formerly ,eliphaz had said1 ,shall man be just beside ,god8 ,behold ,he putteth no trust in ,his servants1 and ,his angels ,he chargeth with folly4 ,now1 with a keener emphasis1 and adopting ,job's own confession that man born of woman is impure1 he asserts the doctrine of creaturely imperfection and human corruption4 ,eloah trusteth not in ,his holy ones1 ,and the heavens are not pure in ,his sight2 ,how much less the abominable and corrupt1 ,man1 who drinketh iniquity as water6 ,first is set forth the refusal of ,god to put confidence in the holiest creature1--a touch1 as it were1 of suspicion in the ,divine rule4 ,a statement of the holiness of ,god otherwise very impressive is marred by this too anthropomorphic suggestion4 ,why1 is not the opposite true1 that the ,creator puts wonderful trust not only in saints but in sinners8 ,he trusts men with life1 with the care of the little children whom ,he loves1 with the use in no small degree of ,his creation1 the powers and resources of a world4 ,true1 there is a reservation4 ,at no point is the creature allowed to rule4 ,saint and sinner1 man and angel are alike under law and observation4 ,none of them can be other than servants1 none of them can ever speak the final word or do the last thing in any cause4 ,eliphaz therefore is dealing with a large truth1 one never to be forgotten or disallowed4 ,yet he fails to make right use of it1 for his second point1 that of the total corruption of human nature1 ought to imply that ,god does not trust man at all4 ,the logic is bad and the doctrine will hardly square with the reference to human wisdom and to wise persons holding the secret of ,god of whom ,eliphaz goes on to speak4 ,against him two lines of reasoning are evident4 ,abominable1 gone sour or putrid1 to whom evil is a necessary of existence like water--if man be that1 his ,creator ought surely to sweep him away and be done with him4 ,but since1 on the other hand1 ,god maintains the life of human beings and honours them with no small confidence1 it would seem that man1 sinful as he is1 bad as he often is1 does not lie under the contempt of his ,maker1 is not set beyond a service of hope4 ,in short1 ,eliphaz sees only what he chooses to see4 ,his statements are devout and striking1 but too rigid for the manifoldness of life4 ,he makes it felt1 even while he speaks1 that he himself in some way stands apart from the race he judges so hardly4 ,so far as the inspiration of this book goes1 it is against the doctrine of total corruption as put into the mouth of ,eliphaz4 ,he intends a final and crushing assault on the position taken up by ,job2 but his mind is prejudiced1 and the man he condemns is ,god's approved servant1 who1 in the end1 will have to pray for ,eliphaz that he may not be dealt with after his folly4 ,quotation of the words of ,eliphaz in proof of total depravity is a grave error4 ,the race is sinful2 all men sin1 inherit sinful tendencies and yield to them3 who does not confess it8 ,but1--all men abominable and corrupt1 drinking iniquity as water1--that is untrue at any rate of the very person ,eliphaz engages to convict4 ,it is remarkable that there is not a single word of personal confession in any speech made by the friends4 ,they are concerned merely to state a creed supposed to be honouring to ,god1 a full justification from their point of view of ,his dealings with men4 ,the sovereignty of ,god must be vindicated by attributing this entire vileness to man1 stripping the creature of every claim on the consideration of his ,maker4 ,the great evangelical teachers have not so driven home their reasoning4 ,augustine began with the evil in his own heart and reasoned to the world1 and ,jonathan ,edwards in the same way began with himself4 ,my wickedness1 he says1 has long appeared to me perfectly ineffable and1 swallowing up all thought and imagination1 like an infinite deluge or mountains over my head4 ,i know not how to express better what my sins appear to me to be than by heaping infinite on infinite and multiplying infinite by infinite4 ,here is no ,eliphaz arguing from misfortune to sinfulness2 and indeed by that line it is impossible ever to arrive at evangelical poverty of spirit4 ,passing to his final contention here the speaker introduces it with a special claim to attention4 ,again it is what he has seen he will declare1 what indeed all wise men have seen from time immemorial4 ,i will inform thee3 hear me2 ,and what ,i have seen ,i will declare3 ,things which wise men have told1 ,from their fathers1 and have not hid1 ,to whom alone the land was given1 ,and no stranger passed in their midst4 ,there is the pride4 ,he has a peculiar inheritance of unsophisticated wisdom4 ,the pure ,temanite race has dwelt always in the same land1 and foreigners have not mixed with it4 ,with it1 therefore1 is a religion not perverted by alien elements or the adoption of sceptical ideas from passing strangers4 ,the plea is distinctively ,arabic and may be illustrated by the self-complacent dogmatism of the ,wahhbees of ,ri'ad1 whom ,mr4 ,palgrave found enjoying their own uncorrupted orthodoxy4 ,in central ,nejed society presents an element pervading it from its highest to its lowest grades4 ,not only as a ,wahhbee but equally as a ,nejdean the native of ',aared and ,yemmah differs1 and that widely1 from his fellow-,arab of ,shomer and ,kaseem1 nay1 of ,woshem and ,sedeyr4 ,the cause of this difference is much more ancient than the epoch of the great ,wahhbee1 and must be sought first and foremost in the pedigree itself4 ,the descent claimed by the indigenous ,arabs of this region is from the family of ,tameen1 a name peculiar to these lands4444 ,now ,benoo-,tameem have been in all ages distinguished from other ,arabs by strongly drawn lines of character1 the object of the exaggerated praise and of the biting satire of native poets4 ,good or bad1 these characteristics1 described some thousand years ago1 are identical with the portrait of their real or pretended descendants4444 ,simplicity is natural to the men of ',aared and ,yemmah1 independent of ,wahhbee puritanism and the vigour of its code4 7,central ,arabia1 pp4 #bgb1 #bgc47 ,to this people ,nejed is holy1 ,damascus through which ,christians and other infidels go is a lax disreputable place4 ,they maintain a strict ,mohammedanism from age to age4 ,in their view1 as in that of ,eliphaz1 the land belongs to the wise people who have the heavenly treasure and do not entertain strangers as guides of thought4 ,infallibility is a very old and very abiding cult4 ,eliphaz drags back his hearers to the penal visitation of the wicked1 his favourite dogma4 ,once more it is affirmed that for one who transgresses the law of ,god there is nothing but misery1 fear and pain4 ,though he has a great following he lives in terror of the destroyer2 he knows that calamity will one day overtake him1 and from it there will be no deliverance4 ,then he will have to wander in search of bread1 his eyes perhaps put out by his enemy4 ,so trouble and anguish make him afraid even in his great day4 ,there is here not a suggestion that conscience troubles him4 ,his whole agitation is from fear of pain and loss4 ,no single touch in the picture gives the idea that this man has any sense of sin4 ,how does ,eliphaz distinguish or imagine the ,almighty distinguishing between men in general1 who are all bad and offensive in their badness1 and this particular wicked man8 ,distinction there must be4 ,what is it8 ,one must assume1 for the reasoner is no fool1 that the settled temper and habit of a life are meant4 ,revolt against ,god1 proud opposition to ,his will and law1 these are the wickedness4 ,it is no mere stagnant pool of corruption1 but a force running against the ,almighty4 ,very well3 ,eliphaz has not only made a true distinction1 but apparently stated for once a true conclusion4 ,such a man will indeed be likely to suffer for his arrogance in this life1 although it does not hold that he will be haunted by fears of coming doom4 ,but analysing the details of the wicked life in vers4 #be-bh1 we find incoherency4 ,the question is why he suffers and is afraid4 ,because he stretched out his hand against ,god1 ,and bade defiance to the ,almighty2 ,he ran upon ,him with a neck ,upon the thick bosses of ,his bucklers2 ,because he covered his face with his fatness ,and made collops of fat on his flanks2 ,and he dwelt in tabooed cities1 ,in houses which no man ought to inhabit1 ,destined to become heaps4 ,eliphaz has narrowed down the whole contention1 so that he may carry it triumphantly and bring ,job to admit1 at least in this case1 the law of sin and retribution4 ,it is fair to suppose that he is not presenting ,job's case1 but an argument1 rather1 in abstract theology1 designed to strengthen his own general position4 ,the author1 however1 by side lights on the reasoning shows where it fails4 ,the account of calamity and judgment1 true as it might be in the main of ,god-defiant lives running headlong against the laws of heaven and earth1 is confused by the other element of wickedness--,because he hath covered his face with his fatness1 etc4 ,the recoil of a refined man of pure race from one of gross sensual appetite is scarcely a fit parallel to the aversion of ,god from man stubbornly and insolently rebellious4 ,further1 the superstitious belief that one was unpardonable who made his dwelling in cities under the curse of ,god 7literally1 cities cut off or tabooed71 while it might be sincerely put forward by ,eliphaz1 made another flaw in his reasoning4 ,any one in constant terror of judgment would have been the last to take up his abode in such accursed habitations4 ,the argument is strong only in picturesque assertion4 ,the latter end of the wicked man and his futile attempts to found a family or clan are presented at the close of the address4 ,he shall not become rich2 that felicity is reserved for the servants of ,god4 ,no plentiful produce shall weigh down the branches of his olives and vines1 nor shall he ever rid himself of misfortune4 ,as by a flame or hot breath from the mouth of ,god his harvest and himself shall be carried away4 ,the vanity or mischief he sows shall return to him in vanity or trouble2 and before his time1 while life should be still fresh1 the full measure of his reward shall be paid to him4 ,the branch withered and dry1 unripe grapes and the infertile flowers of the olive falling to the ground point to the want of children or their early death2 for the company of the godless shall be barren4 ,the tents of injustice or bribery1 left desolate1 shall be burned4 ,the only fruit of the doomed life shall be iniquity4 ,one hesitates to accuse ,eliphaz of inaccuracy4 ,yet the shedding of the petals of the olive is not in itself a sign of infertility2 and although this tree1 like others1 often blossoms without producing fruit1 yet it is the constant emblem of productiveness4 ,the vine1 again1 may have shed its unripe grapes in ,teman2 but usually they wither4 ,it may be feared that ,eliphaz has fallen into the popular speaker's trick of snatching at illustrations from something supposed to be science4 ,his contention is partly sound in its foundation1 but fails like his analogies2 and the controversy1 when he leaves off1 is advanced not a single step4 ,,xiv4 ',,my ,,witness ,,in ,,heaven4' ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 xvi41 xvii4 ,if it were comforting to be told of misery and misfortune1 to hear the doom of insolent evil-doers described again and again in varying terms1 then ,job should have been comforted4 ,but his friends had lost sight of their errand1 and he had to recall them to it4 ,i have heard many such things3 ,afflictive comforters are ye all4 ,shall vain words have an end8 ,he would have them consider that perpetual harping on one string is but a sober accomplishment6 ,returning one after another to the wicked man1 the godless sinner1 crafty1 froward1 sensual1 overbearing1 and his certain fate of disaster and extinction1 they are at once obstinately ungracious and to ,job's mind pitifully inept4 ,he is indisposed to argue afresh with them1 but he cannot refrain from expressing his sorrow and indeed his indignation that they have offered him a stone for bread4 ,excusing themselves they had blamed him for his indifference to the consolations of ,god4 ,all he had been aware of was their joining words together against him with much shaking of the head4 ,was that ,divine consolation8 ,anything1 it seemed1 was good enough for him1 a man under the stroke of ,god4 ,perhaps he is a little unfair to his comforters4 ,they cannot drop their creed in order to assuage his grief4 ,in a sense it would have been easy to murmur soothing inanities4 ,one writes that ',other friends remain1' ,that ',loss is common to the race'-- ,and common is the commonplace1 ,and vacant chaff well meant for grain4 ,that loss is common would not make ,my own less bitter1 rather more3 ,too common6 ,never morning wore ,to evening1 but some heart did break4 ,even so3 the courteous superficial talk of men who said1 ,friend1 you are only accidentally afflicted2 there is no stroke of ,god in this3 wait a little till the shadows pass1 and meanwhile let us cheer you by stories of old times3--such talk would have served ,job even less than the serious attempt of the friends to settle the problem4 ,it is therefore with somewhat inconsiderate irony he blames them for not giving what1 if they had offered it1 he would have rejected with scorn4 ,i also could speak like you2 ,if your soul were in my soul's stead1 ,i could join words together against you1 ,and shake my head at you2 ,i could strengthen you with my mouth1 ,and the solace of my lips should assuage your grief4 ,the passage is throughout ironical4 ,no change of tone occurs in verse #e1 as the opening word ,but in the ,english version is intended to imply4 ,job means1 of course1 that such consolation as they were offering he never would have offered them4 ,it would be easy1 but abhorrent4 ,so far in sad sarcasm2 and then1 the sense of desolation falling too heavily on his mind for banter or remonstrance1 he returns to his complaint4 ,what is he among men8 ,what is he in himself8 ,what is he before ,god8 ,alone1 stricken1 the object of fierce assault and galling reproach4 ,after a pause of sorrowful thought he resumes the attempt to express his woes1 a final protest before his lips are silent in death4 ,he cannot hope that speaking will relieve his sorrow or mitigate his pain4 ,he would prefer to bear on ,in all the silent manliness of grief4 ,but as yet the appeal he has made to ,god remains unanswered1 for aught he knows unheard4 ,it appears therefore his duty to his own reputation and his faith that he endeavour yet again to break the obstinate doubts of his integrity which still estrange from him those who were his friends4 ,he uses indeed language that will not commend his case but tend to confirm every suspicion4 ,were he wise in the world's way he would refrain from repeating his complaint against ,god4 ,rather would he speak of his misery as a simple fact of experience and strive to argue himself into submission4 ,this line he has not taken and never takes4 ,it is present to his own mind that the hand of ,god is against him4 ,whether men will join him by-and-by in an appeal from ,god to ,god he cannot tell4 ,but once more all that he sees or seems to see he will declare4 ,every step may bring him into more painful isolation1 yet he will proclaim his wrong4 ,certainly1 now1 ,he hath wearied me out4 ,thou hast made desolate my company2 ,thou hast taken hold of me1 ,and it is a witness against me2 ,and my leanness riseth up against me ,bearing witness to my face4 ,he is exhausted2 he has come to the last stage4 ,the circle of his family and friends in which he once stood enjoying the love and esteem of all--where is it now8 ,that hold of life is gone4 ,then1 as if in sheer malice1 ,god has plucked health from him1 and doing so1 left a charge of unworthiness4 ,by the sore disease the ,divine hand grasps him1 keeps him down4 ,the emaciation of his body bears witness against him as an object of wrath4 ,yes2 ,god is his enemy1 and how terrible an enemy6 ,he is like a savage lion that tears with his teeth and glares as if in act to devour4 ,with ,god1 men also1 in their degree1 persecute and assail him4 ,people from the city have come out to gaze upon him4 ,word has gone round that he is being crushed by the ,almighty for proud defiance and blasphemy4 ,men who once trembled before him have smitten him upon the cheek reproachfully4 ,they gather in groups to jeer at him4 ,he is delivered into their hands4 ,but it is ,god1 not men1 of whose strange work he has most bitterly to speak4 ,words almost fail him to express what his ,almighty ,foe has done4 ,i was at ease1 and ,he brake me asunder2 ,yea he hath taken me by the neck ,and dashed me to pieces3 ,he hath also set me as ,his butt1 ,his arrows compass me round about1 ,he cleaveth my reins asunder and spareth not1 ,he poureth my gall on the ground2 ,he breaketh me with breach upon breach1 ,he runneth upon me like a giant4 ,figure after figure expresses the sense of persecution by one full of resource who cannot be resisted4 ,job declares himself to be physically bruised and broken4 ,the stings and sores of his disease are like arrows shot from every side that rankle in his flesh4 ,he is like a fortress beleaguered and stormed by some irresistible enemy4 ,his strength humbled to the dust1 his eyes foul with weeping1 the eyelids swollen so that he cannot see1 he lies abased and helpless1 stricken to the very heart4 ,but not in the chastened mood of one who has done evil and is now brought to contrite submission4 ,that is as far from him as ever4 ,the whole account is of persecution1 undeserved4 ,he suffers1 but protests still that there is no violence in his hands1 also his prayer is pure4 ,let neither ,god nor man think he is concealing sin and making appeal craftily4 ,sincere he is in every word4 99 99 99 99 99 ,at this point1 where ,job's impassioned language might be expected to lead to a fresh outburst against heaven and earth1 one of the most dramatic turns in the thought of the sufferer brings it suddenly to a minor harmony with the creation and the ,creator4 ,his excitement is intense4 ,spiritual eagerness approaches the highest point4 ,he invokes the earth to help him and the mountain echoes4 ,he protests that his claim of integrity has its witness and must be acknowledged4 ,for this new and most pathetic effort to reach a benignant fidelity in ,god which all his cries have not yet stirred1 the former speeches have made preparation4 ,rising from the thought that it was all one to ,god whether he lived or died since the perfect and the wicked are alike destroyed1 bewailing the want of a daysman between him and the ,most ,high1 ,job in the tenth chapter touched the thought that his ,maker could not despise the work of ,his own hands4 ,again1 in chapter xiv41 the possibility of redemption from ,sheol gladdened him for a little4 ,now1 under the shadow of imminent death1 he abandons the hope of deliverance from the under-world4 ,immediately1 if at all1 his vindication must come4 ,and it exists1 written on the breast of earth1 open to the heavens1 somewhere in clear words before the ,highest4 ,not vainly did the speaker in his days of past felicity serve ,god with all his heart4 ,the ,god he then worshipped heard his prayers1 accepted his offerings1 made him glad with a friendship that was no empty dream4 ,somewhere his ,divine ,friend lives still1 observes still his tears and agonies and cries4 ,those enemies about him taunting him with sins he never committed1 this horrible malady bearing him down into death2--,god knows of these1 knows them to be cruel and undeserved4 ,he cries to that ,god1 ,eloah of the ,elohim1 ,higher than the highest4 ,o ,earth1 cover not my blood1 ,and let my cry have no resting-place6 ,even now1 lo6 my witness is in heaven1 ,and ,he that voucheth for me is on high4 ,my friends scorn me3 ,mine eye sheds tears unto ,god-- ,that he would right a man against ,god1 ,and a son of man against his friend4 ,now--in the present stage of being1 before those years expire that lead him to the grave--,job entreats the vindication which exists in the records of heaven4 ,as a son of man he pleads1 not as one who has any peculiar claim1 but simply as a creature of the ,almighty2 and he pleads for the first time with tears4 ,the fact that earth1 too1 is besought to help him must not be overlooked4 ,there is a touch of wide and wistful emotion1 a sense that ,eloah must regard the witness of ,his world4 ,the thought has its colour from a very old feeling2 it takes us back to primval faith1 and the dumb longing before faith4 ,is there in any sense a deeper depth in the faithfulness of ,god1 a higher heaven1 more difficult to penetrate1 of ,divine benignity8 ,job is making a bold effort to break that barrier we have already found to exist in ,hebrew thought between ,god as revealed by nature and providence and ,god as vindicator of the individual life4 ,the man has that in his own heart which vouches for his life1 though calamity and disease impeach him4 ,and in the heart of ,god also there must be a witness to ,his faithful servant1 although1 meanwhile1 something interferes with the testimony ,god could bear4 ,job's appeal is to the sun beyond the rolling clouds to shine4 ,it is there2 ,god is faithful and true4 ,it will shine4 ,but let it shine now6 ,human life is brief and delay will be disastrous4 ,pathetic cry--a struggle against what in ordinary life is the inexorable4 ,how many have gone the way whence they shall not return1 unheard apparently1 unvindicated1 hidden in calumny and shame6 ,and yet ,job was right4 ,the ,maker has regard to the work of ,his hands4 ,the philosophy of ,job's appeal is this1 that beneath all seeming discord there is one clear note4 ,the universe is one and belongs to ,one1 from the highest heaven to the deepest pit4 ,nature1 providence1--what are they but the veil behind which the ,one ,supreme is hidden1 the veil ,god's own hands have wrought8 ,we see the ,divine in the folds of the veil1 the marvellous pictures of the arras4 ,yet behind is ,he who weaves the changing forms1 iridescent with colours of heaven1 dark with unutterable mystery4 ,man is now in the shadow of the veil1 now in the light of it1 self-pitying1 exultant1 in despair1 in ecstasy4 ,he would pass the barrier4 ,it will not yield at his will4 ,it is no veil now1 but a wall of adamant4 ,yet faith on this side answers to truth beyond2 of this the soul is assured4 ,the cry is for ,god to unravel the enigmas of ,his own providence1 to unfold the principle of ,his discipline1 to make clear what is perplexing to the mind and conscience of ,his thinking1 suffering creature4 ,none but ,he who weaves the web can withdraw it1 and let the light of eternity shine on the tangles of time4 ,from ,god the ,concealer to ,god the ,revealer1 from ,god who hides ,himself to ,god who is ,light1 in whom is no darkness at all1 we appeal4 ,to pray on--that is man's high privilege1 man's spiritual life4 ,so the passage we have read is a splendid utterance of the wayworn travelling soul conscious of sublime possibilities1--shall we not say1 certainties8 ,job is ,god-inspired in his cry1 not profane1 not mad1 but prophetic4 ,for ,god is a bold dealer with men1 and ,he likes bold sons4 ,the impeachment we almost shuddered to hear is not abominable to ,him because it is the truth of a soul4 ,the claim that ,god is man's witness is the true courage of faith3 it is sincere1 and it is justified4 ,the demand for immediate vindication still urged is inseparable from the circumstances4 ,for when a few years are come ,i shall go the way whence ,i shall not return4 ,my spirit is consumed1 my days extinct2 ,the grave is ready for me4 ,surely there are mockeries with me ,and mine eyes lodgeth in their provocation4 ,provide a pledge now2 be surely for me with ,thyself4 ,who is there that will strike hands with me8 ,moving towards the under-world1 the fire of his spirit burning low because of his disease1 his body preparing its own grave1 the bystanders flouting him with mockeries under a sense of which his eyes remain closed in weary endurance1 he has need for one to undertake for him1 to give him a pledge of redemption4 ,but who is there excepting ,god to whom he can appeal8 ,what other friend is left8 ,who else would be surety for one so forlorn8 ,against disease and fate1 against the seeming wreck of hope and life1 will not ,god ,himself stand up for ,his servant8 ,as for the men his friends1 his enemies1 the ,divine suretyship for ,job will recoil upon them and their cruel taunts4 ,their hearts are hid from understanding1 unable to grasp the truth of the case2 ,therefore ,thou shalt not exalt them--that is1 ,thou shalt bring them low4 ,yes1 when ,god redeems ,his pledge1 declares openly that ,he has undertaken for ,his servant1 the proverb shall be fulfilled--,he that giveth his fellows for a prey1 even the eyes of his children shall fail4 ,it is a proverb of the old way of thinking and carries a kind of imprecation4 ,job forgets himself in using it4 ,yet how1 otherwise1 is the justice of ,god to be invoked against those who pervert judgment and will not receive the sincere defence of a dying man8 ,i am even made a byeword of the populace2 ,i am become one in whose face they spit3 ,mine eye also fails by reason of sorrow4 ,this is apparently parenthetical--and then ,job returns to the result of the intervention of his ,divine ,friend4 ,one reason why ,god should become his surety is the pitiable state he is in4 ,but another reason is the new impetus that will be given to religion1 the awakening of good men out of their despondency1 the reassurance of those who are pure in heart1 the growth of spiritual strength in the faithful and true4 ,a fresh light thrown on providence shall indeed startle and revive the world4 ,upright men shall be amazed at this1 ,and the innocent shall rouse himself against the godless4 ,and the righteous shall keep his way1 ,and he that hath clean hands wax stronger and stronger4 ,with this hope1 that his life is to be rescued from darkness and the faith of the good re-established by the fulfilment of ,god's suretyship1 ,job comforts himself for a little--but only for a little1 a moment of strength1 during which he has courage to dismiss his friends3-- ,but as for you all1 turn ye1 and go2 ,for ,i shall not find a wise man among you4 ,they have forfeited all claim to his attention4 ,their continued discussion of the ways of ,god will only aggravate his pain4 ,let them take their departure then and leave him in peace4 ,the final passage of the speech referring to a hope present to ,job's mind has been variously interpreted4 ,it is generally supposed that the reference is to the promise held out by the friends that repentance will bring him relief from trouble and new prosperity4 ,but this is long ago dismissed4 ,it seems clear that my hope1 an expression twice used1 cannot refer to one pressed upon ,job but never accepted4 ,it must denote either the hope that ,god would after ,job's death lay aside ,his anger and forgive1 or the hope that ,god would strike hands with him and undertake his case against all adverse forces and circumstances4 ,if this be the meaning1 the course of thought in the last strophe1 from verse #aa onward1 is the following1--,life is running to a low ebb with me1 all ,i had once in my heart to do is arrested1 brought to an end2 so gloomy are my thoughts that they set night for day1 the light is near unto darkness4 ,if ,i wait till death come and ,sheol be my habitation and my body is given to corruption1 where then shall my hope of vindication be8 ,as for the fulfilment of my trust in ,god1 who shall see it8 ,the effort once made to maintain hope even in the face of death is not forgotten4 ,but he questions now whether it has the least ground in fact4 ,the sense of bodily decay masters his brave prevision of a deliverance from ,sheol4 ,his mind needs yet another strain put upon it before it shall rise to the magnificent assertion--,without my flesh ,i shall see ,god4 ,the tides of trust ebb and flow4 ,there is here a low ebb4 ,the next advance will mark the springtide of resolute belief4 ,if ,i wait till ,sheol is my house2 ,till ,i have spread my couch in darkness3 ,if ,i shall have said to corruption1 ,my father art thou1 ,to the worm1 ,my mother and my sister-- ,where then were my hope8 ,as for my hope1 who shall see it8 ,it shall go down to the bars of ,sheol1 ,when once there is rest in the dust4 ,how strenuous is the thought that has to fight with the grave and corruption6 ,the body in its emaciation and decay1 doomed to be the prey of worms1 appears to drag with it into the nether darkness the eager life of the spirit4 ,those who have the ,christian outlook to another life may measure by the oppression ,job has to endure the value of that revelation of immortality which is the gift of ,christ4 ,not in error1 not in unbelief1 did a man like ,job fight with grim death1 strive to keep it at bay till his character was cleared4 ,there was no acknowledged doctrine of the future to found upon4 ,of sheer necessity each burdened soul had to seek its own ,apocalypse4 ,he who had suffered with bleeding heart a lifelong sacrifice1 he who had striven to free his fellow-slaves and sank at last overborne by tyrannous power1 the brave defeated1 the good betrayed1 those who sought through heathen beliefs and those who found in revealed religion the promises of ,god--all alike stood in sorrowful ignorance before inexorable death1 beheld the shadows of the under-world and singly battled for hope amidst the deepening gloom4 ,the sense of the overwhelming disaster of death to one whose life and religion are scornfully condemned is not ascribed to ,job as a peculiar trial1 rarely mingling with human experience4 ,the writer of the book has himself felt it and has seen the shadow of it on many a face4 ,where1 as one asks1 were the tears of ,god as ,he thrust back into eternal stillness the hands stretched out to ,him in dying faith8 ,there was a religion which gave large and elaborate answer to the questions of mortality4 ,the wide intelligence of the author of ,job can hardly have missed the creed and ceremonial of ,egypt2 he cannot have failed to remember its ,book of the ,dead4 ,his own work1 throughout1 is at once a parallel and a contrast to that old vision of future life and ,divine judgment4 ,it has been affirmed that some of the forms of expression1 especially in the nineteenth chapter1 have their source in the ,egyptian scripture1 and that the ,book of the ,dead is full of spiritual aspirations which give it a striking resemblance to the ,book of ,job4 ,now1 undoubtedly1 the correspondence is remarkable and will bear examination4 ,the soul comes before ,osiris1 who holds the shepherd's crook and the penal scourge4 ,thoth 7or ,logos7 breathes new spirit into the embalmed body1 and the dead pleads for himself before the assessors--,hail to thee1 great ,lord of ,justice4 ,i arrive near thee4 ,i am one of those consecrated to thee on the earth4 ,i reach the land of eternity4 ,i rejoin the eternal country4 ,living is he who dwelleth in darkness2 all his grandeurs live4 ,the dead is in fact not dead1 he is recreated2 the mouth of no worm shall devour him4 ,at the close of the ,book of the ,dead it is written1 the departed shall be among the gods2 his flesh and bones shall be healthy as one who is not dead4 ,he shall shine as a star for ever and ever4 ,he seeth ,god with his flesh4 ,the defence of the soul in claiming beatitude is this3 ,i have committed no revenge in act or in heart1 no excesses in love4 ,i have injured no one with lies4 ,i have driven away no beggars1 committed no treacheries1 caused no tears4 ,i have not taken another's property1 nor ruined another1 nor destroyed the laws of righteousness4 ,i have not aroused contests1 nor neglected the ,creator of my soul4 ,i have not disturbed the joy of others4 ,i have not passed by the oppressed1 sinning against my ,creator1 or the ,lord1 or the heavenly powers4444 ,i am pure1 pure4#b ,there are many evident resemblances which have been already studied and would repay further attention2 but the questions occur1 how far the author of the ,book of ,job refused ,egyptian influences1 and why1 in the face of a solution of his problem apparently thrust upon him with the authority of ages1 he yet exerted himself to find a solution of his own1 meanwhile throwing his hero into the hopelessness of one to whom death as a physical fact is final1 compelled to forego the expectation of a daysman who should affirm his righteousness before the ,lord of all4 ,the ,book of the ,dead was1 for one thing1 identified with polytheism1 with idolatry and a priestly system2 and a thinker whose belief was entirely monotheistic1 whose mind turned decisively from ritual1 whose interests were widely humane1 was not likely to accept as a revelation the promises of ,egyptian priests to their aristocratic patrons1 or to seek light from the mysteries of ,isis and ,osiris4 ,throughout his book our author is advancing to a conclusion altogether apart from the ideas of ,egyptian faith regarding the trust of the soul4 ,but chiefly his mind seems to have been repelled by the excessive care given to the dead body1 with the consequent materialising of religion4 ,life to him meant so much that he needed a far more spiritual basis for its continuance than could be found in the preservation of the worn-out frame4 ,with rare and unsurpassed endeavour he was straining beyond time and sense after a vision of life in the union of man's spirit with its ,maker1 and that ,divine constancy in which alone faith could have acceptance and repose4 ,no thought of maintaining himself in existence by having his body embalmed is ever expressed by ,job4 ,the author seems to scorn that childish dream of continuance4 ,death means decay1 corruption4 ,this doom passed on the body the stricken life must endure1 and the soul must stay itself upon the righteousness and grace of ,god4 ,,footnote3 #b ,see ,renouf's ,hibbert ,lecture1 also ,the ,unknown ,god1 by ,c4 ,loring ,brace4 ,,xv4 ,a ,,scheme ,,of ,,world-,,rule4 ,,bildad ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 xviii4 ,composed in the orderly parallelism of the finished mashal1 this speech of ,bildad stands out in its strength and subtlety and1 no less1 in its cruel rigour quite distinct among those addressed to ,job4 ,it is the most trenchant attack the sufferer has to bear4 ,the law of retribution is stated in a hard collected tone which seems to leave no room for doubt4 ,the force that overbears and kills is presented rather as fate or destiny than as moral government4 ,no attempt is made to describe the character of the man on whom punishment falls4 ,we hear nothing of proud defiance or the crime of settling in habitations under the ,divine curse4 ,bildad ventures no definitions that may not fit ,job's case4 ,he labels a man godless1 and then1 with a dogged relish1 follows his entanglement in the net of disaster4 ,all he says is general1 abstract2 nevertheless1 the whole of it is calculated to pierce the armour of ,job's supposed presumption4 ,it is not to be borne longer that against all wisdom and certainty this man1 plainly set among the objects of wrath1 should go on defending himself as if the judgment of men and ,god went for nothing4 ,with singular inconsistency the wicked man is spoken of as one who for some time prospers in the world4 ,he has a settlement from which he is ejected1 a family that perishes1 a name of some repute which he loses4 ,bildad begins by admitting what he afterwards denies1 that a man of evil life may have success4 ,it is indeed only for a time1 and perhaps the idea is that he becomes wicked as he becomes rich and strong4 ,yet if the effect of prosperity is to make a man proud and cruel and so bring him at once into snares and pitfalls according to a rigorous natural law--how then can worldly success be the reward of virtue8 ,bildad is nearer the mark with description than with reasoning4 ,it is as though he said to ,job1 ,doubtless you were a good man once2 you were my friend and a servant of ,god2 but ,i very much fear that prosperity has done you harm4 ,it is clear that1 as a godless man1 you are now driven from light into darkness1 that fear and death wait for you4 ,the speaker does not see that he is overturning his own scheme of world-rule4 ,there is bitterness here1 the personal feeling of one who has a view to enforce4 ,does the man before him think he is of such account that the ,almighty will intervene to become surety for him and justify his self-righteousness8 ,it is necessary that ,job shall not even seem to get the best of the argument4 ,no bystander shall say his novel heresies appear to have a colour of truth4 ,the speaker is accordingly very unlike what he was in his first address4 ,the show of politeness and friendship is laid aside4 ,we see the temper of a mind fed on traditional views of truth1 bound in the fetters of self-satisfied incompetence4 ,in his admirable exposition of this part of the book ,dr4 ,cox cites various ,arabic proverbs of long standing which are embodied1 one way or other1 in ,bildad's speech4 ,it is a cold creed which builds on this wisdom of the world4 ,he who can use grim sayings against others is apt to think himself superior to their frailties1 in no danger of the penalties he threatens4 ,and the speech of ,bildad is irritating just because everything is omitted which might give a hinge or loop to ,job's criticism4 ,nowhere is the skill of the author better shown than in making these protagonists of ,job say false things plausibly and effectively4 ,his resources are marvellous4 ,after the first circle of speeches the lines of opposition to ,job marked out by the tenor of the controversy might seem to admit no more or very little fresh argument4 ,yet this address is as graphic and picturesque as those before it4 ,the full strength of the opposition is thrown into those sentences piling threat on threat with such apparent truth4 ,the reason is that the crisis approaches4 ,by ,bildad's attack the sufferer is to be roused to his loftiest effort1--that prophetic word which is in one sense the raison d'tre of the book4 ,one may say the work done here is for all time4 ,the manifesto of humanity against rabbinism1 of the plain man's faith against hard theology1 is set beside the most specious arguments for a rule dividing men into good and bad1 simply as they appear to be happy or unfortunate4 ,bildad opens the attack by charging ,job with hunting for words--an accusation of a general kind apparently referring to the strong expressions he had used in describing his sufferings at the hand of ,god and from the criticism of men4 ,he then calls ,job to understand his own errors1 that he may be in a position to receive the truth4 ,perverting and exaggerating the language of ,job1 he demands why the friends should be counted as beasts and unclean1 and why they should be so branded by a man who was in revolt against providence4 ,why are we counted as beasts1 ,as unclean even in your sight8 ,thou that tearest thyself in thine anger-- ,for thy sake shall the earth be forsaken1 ,and the rock be moved from its place8 ,ewald's interpretation here brings out the force of the questions4 ,does this madman who complained that ,god's wrath tore him1 but who1 on the contrary1 sufficiently betrays his own bad conscience by tearing himself in his anger1 really demand that on his account1 that he may be justified1 the earth shall be made desolate 7since really1 if ,god ,himself should pervert justice1 order1 and peace1 the blessings of the happy occupation of the earth could not subsist78 ,does he also hope that what is firmest1 the ,divine order of the world1 should be removed from its place8 ,oh1 the fool1 who in his own perversity and confusion rebels against the everlasting order of the universe6 ,all is settled from time immemorial by the laws of providence4 ,without more discussion ,bildad reaffirms what the unchangeable decree1 as he knows it1 certainly is4 ,nevertheless the light of the wicked shall be put out1 ,and the gleam of his fire shall not shine4 ,the light shall fade in his tent1 ,and his lamp over him shall be put out1 ,the steps of his strength shall be straitened1 ,and his own counsel shall cast him down4 ,for into a net his own feet urge him1 ,and he walketh over the toils4 ,a snare seizeth him by the heel1 ,and a noose holdeth him fast3 ,in the ground its loop is hidden1 ,and its mesh in the path4 ,by reiteration1 by a play on words the fact as it appears to ,bildad is made very clear--that for the wicked man the world is full of perils1 deliberately prepared as snares for wild animals are set by the hunter4 ,the general proposition is that the light of his prosperity is an accident4 ,it shall soon be put out and his home be given to desolation4 ,this comes to pass first by a restraint put on his movements4 ,the sense of some inimical power observing him1 pursuing him1 compels him to move carefully and no longer with the free stride of security4 ,then in the narrow range to which he is confined he is caught again and again by the snares and meshes set for him by invisible hands4 ,his best devices for his own safety bring him into peril4 ,in the open country and in the narrow path alike he is seized and held fast4 ,more and more closely the adverse power confines him1 bearing upon his freedom and his life till his superstitious fears are kindled4 ,terrors confound him now on every side and suddenly presented startle him to his feet4 ,this once strong man becomes weak2 he who had abundance knows what it is to hunger4 ,and death is now plainly in his cup4 ,destruction1 a hateful figure1 is constantly at his side1 appearing as disease which attacks the body4 ,it is leprosy1 the very disease ,job is suffering4 ,it devoureth the members of his skin1 ,devoureth his members1 even the firstborn of death4 ,he is plucked from the tent of his confidence1 ,and he is brought to the king of terrors4 ,the personification of death here is natural1 and many parallels to the figure are easily found4 ,horror of death is a mark of strong healthy life1 especially among those who see beyond only some dark ,sheol of dreary hopeless existence4 ,the firstborn of death is the frightful black leprosy1 and it has that figurative name as possessing more than other diseases that power to corrupt the body which death itself fully exercises4 ,this cold prediction of the death of the godless from the very malady that has attacked ,job is cruel indeed1 especially from the lips of one who formerly promised health and felicity in this world as the result of penitence4 ,we may say that ,bildad has found it his duty to preach the terrors of ,god1 and the duty appears congenial to him1 for he describes with insistence and ornament the end of the godless4 ,but he should have deferred this terrible homily till he had clear proof of ,job's wickedness4 ,bildad says things in the zeal of his spirit against the godless which he will afterwards bitterly regret4 ,having brought the victim of destiny to the grave1 the speaker has yet more to say4 ,there were consequences that extended beyond a man's own suffering and extinction4 ,his family1 his name1 all that was desired of remembrance in this world would be denied to the evil-doer4 ,in the universe1 as ,bildad sees it1 there is no room for repentance or hope even to the children of the man against whom the decree of fate has gone forth4 ,they shall dwell in his tent that are none of his3 ,brimstone shall be showered on his habitation2 ,his roots shall be dried up beneath1 ,and above his branches shall wither2 ,his memory shall perish from the land1 ,and he shall have no name in the earth-- ,it shall be driven from light into darkness1 ,and chased out of the world4 ,the habitation of the sinner shall either pass into the hand of utter strangers or be covered with brimstone and made accursed4 ,the roots of his family or clan1 those who still survive of an older generation1 and the branches above--children or grandchildren1 as in verse #ai--shall wither away4 ,so his memory shall perish1 alike in the land where he dwelt and abroad in other regions4 ,his name shall go into oblivion1 chased with aversion and disgust out of the world4 ,such1 says ,bildad1 is the fate of the wicked4 ,job saw fit to speak of men being astonished at the vindication he was to enjoy when ,god appeared for him4 ,but the surprise would be of a different kind4 ,at the utter destruction of the wicked man and his seed1 his homestead and memory1 they of the west would be astonished and they of the east affrighted4 ,as logical as many another scheme since offered to the world1 a moral scheme also1 this of ,bildad is at once determined and incoherent4 ,he has no doubt1 no hesitation in presenting it4 ,were he the moral governor1 there would be no mercy for sinners who refused to be convicted of sin in his way and according to his law of judgment4 ,he would lay snares for them1 hunt them down1 snatch at every argument against them4 ,in his view that is the only way to overcome unregenerate hearts and convince them of guilt4 ,in order to save a man he would destroy him4 ,to make him penitent and holy he would attack his whole right to live4 ,of the humane temper ,bildad has almost none4 ,,xvi4 ,,my ,,redeemer ,,liveth4 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 xix4 ,with simple strong art sustained by exuberant eloquence the author has now thrown his hero upon our sympathies1 blending a strain of expectancy with tender emotion4 ,in shame and pain1 sick almost to death1 baffled in his attempts to overcome the seeming indifference of ,heaven1 the sufferer lies broken and dejected4 ,bildad's last address describing the fate of the godless man has been deliberately planned to strike at ,job under cover of a general statement of the method of retribution4 ,the pictures of one seized by the firstborn of death1 of the lightless and desolate habitation1 the withered branches and decaying remembrance of the wicked1 are plainly designed to reflect ,job's present state and forecast his coming doom4 ,at first the effect is almost overwhelming4 ,the judgment of men is turned backward and like the forces of nature and providence has become relentless4 ,the united pressure on a mind weakened by the body's malady goes far to induce despair4 ,meanwhile the sufferer must endure the burden not only of his personal calamities and the alienation of all human friendships1 but also of a false opinion with which he has to grapple as much for the sake of mankind as for his own4 ,he represents the seekers after the true ,god and true religion in an age of darkness1 aware of doubts other men do not admit1 labouring after a hope of which the world feels no need4 ,the immeasurable weight this lays on the soul is to many unknown4 ,some few there are1 as ,carlyle says1 and ,job appears one of them1 who have to realise a worship for themselves1 or live unworshipping4 ,in dim forecastings1 wrestles within them the ',divine ,idea of the ,world1' yet will nowhere visibly reveal itself4 ,the ,godlike has vanished from the world2 and they1 by the strong cry of their soul's agony1 like true wonder-workers1 must again evoke its presence4444 ,the doom of the ,old has long been pronounced1 and irrevocable2 the ,old has passed away2 but1 alas1 the ,new appears not in its stead1 the ,time is still in pangs of travail with the ,new4 ,man has walked by the light of conflagrations and amid the sound of falling cities2 and now there is darkness1 and long watching till it be morning4 ,the voice of the faithful can but exclaim3 ',as yet struggles the twelfth hour of the night3 birds of darkness are on the wing1 spectres uproar1 the dead walk1 the living dream4 ,thou1 ,eternal ,providence1 wilt cause the day to dawn4' ,as in the twelfth hour of the night1 the voices of men sounding hollow and strange to him1 the author of the ,book of ,job found himself4 ,current ideas about ,god would have stifled his thought if he had not realised his danger and the world's danger and thrown himself forward1 breaking through1 even with defiance and passion1 to make a way for reason to the daylight of ,god4 ,limiting and darkening statements he took up as they were presented to him over and over again2 he tracked them to their sources in ignorance1 pedantry1 hardness of temper4 ,he insisted that the one thing for a man is resolute clearness of mind1 openness to the teaching of ,god1 to the correction of the ,almighty1 to that truth of the whole world which alone corresponds to faith4 ,believing that the ultimate satisfying object of faith will disclose itself at last to every pure seeker1 each in his degree1 he began his quest and courageously pursued it1 never allowing hope to wander where reason dared not follow1 checking himself on the very brink of alluring speculation by a deliberate reconnaissance of the facts of life and the limitations of knowledge4 ,nowhere more clearly than in this speech of ,job does the courageous truthfulness of the author show itself4 ,he seems to find his oracle1 and then with a sigh return to the path of sober reality because as yet verification of the sublime idea is beyond his power4 ,the vision appears and is fixed in a vivid picture--marking the highest flight of his inspiration--that those who follow may have it before them1 to be examined1 tried1 perhaps approved in the long run4 ,but for himself1 or at any rate for his hero1 one who has to find his faith through the natural world and its revelations of ,divine faithfulness1 the bounds within which absolute certainty existed for the human mind at that time are accepted unflinchingly4 ,the hope remains2 but assurance is sought on a lower level1 where the ,divine order visible in the universe sheds light on the moral life of man4 ,that inspiration should thus work within bounds1 conscious of itself1 yet restrained by human ignorance1 may be questioned4 ,the apprehension of transcendent truth not yet proved by argument1 the authoritative statement of such truth for the guidance and confirmation of faith1 lastly1 complete independence of ordinary criticism--are not these the functions and qualities of inspiration8 ,and yet1 here1 the inspired man1 with insight fresh and marvellous1 declines to allow his hero or any thinker repose in the very hope which is the chief fruit of his inspiration1 leaving it as something thrown out1 requiring to be tested and verified2 and meanwhile he takes his stand as a prophet on those nearer1 in a sense more common1 yet withal sustaining principles that are within the range of the ordinary mind4 ,such we shall find to be the explanation of the speeches of the ,almighty and their absolute silence regarding the future redemption4 ,such also may be said to be the reason of the epilogue1 apparently so inconsistent with the scope of the poem4 ,on firm ground the writer takes his stand--ground which no thinker of his time could declare to be hollow4 ,the thorough saneness of his mind1 shown in this final decision1 gives all the more life to the flashes of prediction and the ,divine intuitions which leap out of the dark sky hanging low over the suffering man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the speech of ,bildad in chap4 xviii41 under cover of an account of invariable law was really a dream of special providence4 ,he believed that the ,divine ,king1 who1 as ,christ teaches1 maketh ,his sun to rise on the evil and the good1 and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust1 really singles out the wicked for peculiar treatment corresponding to their iniquity4 ,it is in one sense the sign of vigorous faith to attribute action of this kind to ,god1 and ,job himself in his repeated appeals to the unseen ,vindicator shows the same conception of providence4 ,should not ,one intent on righteousness break through the barriers of ordinary law when doubt is cast on ,his equity and care8 ,pardonable to ,job1 whose case is altogether exceptional1 the notion is one the author sees it necessary to hold in check4 ,there is no ,theophany of the kind ,job desires4 ,on the contrary his very craving for special intervention adds to his anxiety4 ,because it is not granted he affirms that ,god has perverted his right2 and when at last the voice of the ,almighty is heard1 it is to recall the doubter from his personal desires to the contemplation of the vast universe as revealing a wide and wise fidelity4 ,this undernote of the author's purpose1 while it serves to guide us in the interpretation of ,job's complaints1 is not allowed to rise into the dominant4 ,yet it rebukes those who think the great ,divine laws have not been framed to meet their case1 who rest their faith not on what ,god does always and is in ,himself1 but on what they believe ,he does sometimes and especially for them4 ,the thoughts of the ,lord are very deep4 ,our lives float upon them like skiffs upon an unfathomable ocean of power and fatherly care4 ,of the treatment he receives from men ,job complains1 yet not because they are the means of his overthrow4 ,how long will ye vex my soul ,and crush me utterly with sayings8 ,these ten times have ye reproached me2 ,ye are not ashamed that ye condemn me4 ,and be it verily that ,i have erred1 ,mine error remaineth to myself4 ,will ye1 indeed1 exult against me ,and reproach me with my disgrace8 ,know now that ,god hath wronged me ,and compassed me about with ,his net4 ,why should his friends be so persistent in charging him with offence8 ,he has not wronged them4 ,if he has erred1 he himself is the sufferer4 ,it is not for them to take part against him4 ,their exultation is of a kind they have no right to indulge1 for they have not brought him to the misery in which he lies4 ,bildad spoke of the snare in which the wicked is caught4 ,his tone in that passage could not have been more complacent if he himself claimed the honour of bringing retribution on the godless4 ,but it is ,god1 says ,job1 who hath compassed me with ,his net4 ,behold1 of wrong ,i cry1 but ,i am not heard2 ,i cry for help1 but there is no judgment4 ,day after day1 night after night1 pains and fears increase3 death draws nearer4 ,he cannot move out of the net of misery4 ,as one neglected1 outlawed1 he has to bear his inexplicable doom1 his way fenced in so that he cannot pass1 darkness thrown over his world by the hand of ,god4 ,plunging thus anew into a statement of his hopeless condition as one discrowned1 dishonoured1 a broken man1 the speaker has in view all along the hard human judgment which numbers him with the godless4 ,he would melt the hearts of his relentless critics by pleading that their enmity is out of place4 ,if the ,almighty is his enemy and has brought him near to the dust of death1 why should men persecute him as ,god8 ,might they not have pity8 ,there is indeed resentment against providence in his mind2 but the anxious craving for human sympathy reacts on his language and makes it far less fierce and bitter than in previous speeches4 ,grief rather than revolt is now his mood4 ,he hath stripped me of my glory ,and taken my crown from my head4 ,he hath broken me down on every side1 ,uprooted my hope like a tree4 ,he hath also kindled his wrath against me ,and counted me among ,his adversaries4 ,his troops come on together ,and cast up their way against me ,and encamp around my tent4 ,so far the ,divine indignation has gone4 ,will his friends not think of it8 ,will they not look upon him with less of hardness and contempt though he may have sinned8 ,a man in a hostile universe1 a feeble man1 stricken with disease1 unable to help himself1 the heavens frowning upon him--why should they harden their hearts8 ,and yet1 see how his brethren have dealt with him6 ,mark how those who were his friends stand apart1 ,eliphaz and the rest1 behind them others who once claimed kinship with him4 ,how do they look8 ,their faces are clouded4 ,they must be on ,god's side against ,job4 ,yea1 ,god ,himself has moved them to this4 ,he hath put my brethren far from me1 ,and my confidants are wholly estranged from me4 ,my kinsfolk have failed ,and my familiar friends have forgotten me4 ,they that dwell in my house and my maids count me for a stranger2 ,i am an alien in their sight4 ,i call my servant and he gives me no answer1 ,i must entreat him with my mouth4 ,my breath is offensive to my wife1 ,and my ill savour to the sons of my body4 ,even young children despise me2 ,if ,i would arise they speak against me4 ,my bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh1 ,and ,i am escaped with the skin of my teeth4 ,the picture is one of abject humiliation4 ,he is rejected by all who once loved him1 forced to entreat his servants1 become offensive to his wife and grandsons2 jeered at even by children of the place4 ,the case appears to us unnatural and shows the almost fiendish hardness of the ,oriental world2 that is to say1 if the account is not coloured for dramatic purposes4 ,the intention is to represent the extremity of ,job's wretchedness1 the lowest depth to which he is reduced4 ,the fire of his spirit is almost quenched by shame and desolation4 ,he shows the days of his misery in the strongest shadow in order to compel1 if possible1 the sympathy so persistently withheld4 ,have pity upon me1 have pity upon me1 ,o ye my friends1 ,for the hand of ,god hath touched me4 ,why do ye persecute me as ,god1 ,and are not satisfied with my flesh8 ,now we understand the purpose of the long description of his pain1 both that which ,god has inflicted and that caused by the alienation and contempt of men4 ,into his soul the prediction of ,bildad has entered1 that he will share the fate of the wicked whose memory perishes from the earth1 whose name is driven from light into darkness and chased out of the world4 ,is it to be so with him8 ,that were indeed a final disaster4 ,to bring his friends to some sense of what all this means to him--this is what he struggles after4 ,it is not even the pity of it that is the chief point1 although through that he seeks to gain his end4 ,but if ,god is not to interpose1 if his last hour is coming without a sign of heaven's relenting1 he would at least have men stand beside him1 take his words to heart1 believe them possibly true1 hand down for his memorial the claim he has made of integrity4 ,surely1 surely he shall not be thought of by the next generation as ,job the proud defiant evil-doer laid low by the judgments of an offended ,god--brought to shame as one who deserved to be counted amongst the offscourings of the earth4 ,it is enough that ,god has persecuted him1 that ,god is slaying him--let not men take it upon them to do so to the last4 ,before he dies let one at least say1 ,job1 my friend1 perhaps you are sincere1 perhaps you are misjudged4 ,urgent is the appeal4 ,it is in vain4 ,not a hand is stretched out1 not one grim face relaxes4 ,the man has made his last attempt4 ,he is now like a pressed animal between the hunter and the chasm4 ,and why is the author so rigorous in his picture of the friends8 ,it is made to all appearance quite inhuman1 and cannot be so without design4 ,by means of this inhumanity ,job is flung once for all upon his need of ,god from whom he had almost turned away to man4 ,the poet knows that not in man is the help of the soul1 that not in the sympathy of man1 not in the remembrance of man1 not in the care or even love of man as a passing tenant of earth can the labouring heart put its confidence4 ,from the human judgment ,job turned to ,god at first4 ,from the ,divine silence he had well-nigh turned back to human pity4 ,he finds what other sufferers have found1 that the silence is allowed to extend beneath him1 between him and his fellows1 in order that he may finally and effectually direct his hope and faith above himself1 above the creaturely race1 to ,him from whom all came1 in whose will and love alone the spirit of man has its life1 its hope4 ,yes1 ,god is bringing home to ,himself the man whom ,he has approved for approval4 ,the way is strange to the feet of ,job1 as it often is to the weary half-blinded pilgrim4 ,but it is the one way to fulfil and transcend our longings4 ,neither corporate sympathy nor posthumous immortality can ever stand to a thinking soul instead of the true firm judgment of its life that waits within the knowledge of ,god4 ,if ,he is not for us1 the epitaphs and memoirs of time avail nothing4 ,man's place is in the eternal order or he does indeed cry out of wrong and is not heard4 ,from men to the written book1 from men to the graven rock1 more enduring1 more public than the book--will this provide what is still unfound8 ,oh that now my words were written1 ,that they were inscribed in a book2 ,that with an iron stylus and with lead ,they were graven in the rock for ever4 ,as one accustomed to the uses of wealth ,job speaks4 ,he thinks first of a parchment in which his story and his claim may be carefully written and preserved4 ,but he sees at once how perishable that would be and passes to a form of memorial such as great men employed4 ,he imagines a cliff in the desert with a monumental inscription bearing that once he1 the ,emeer of ,uz1 lived and suffered1 was thrown from prosperity1 was accused by men1 was worn by disease1 but died maintaining that all this befel him unjustly1 that he had done no wrong to ,god or man4 ,it would stand there in the way of the caravans of ,tema for succeeding generations to read4 ,it would stand there till the ages had run their course4 ,kings represent on rocks their wars and triumphs4 ,as one of royal dignity ,job would use the same means of continuing his protest and his name4 ,yet1 so far as his life is concerned1 what good1--the story spread northward to ,damascus1 but he1 ,job1 lost in ,sheol8 ,his protest is against forms of death2 his claim is for life4 ,there is no life in the sculptured stone4 ,baffled again he halts midway4 ,his foot on a crumbling point1 there must be yet one spring for safety and refuge4 ,who has not felt1 looking at the records of the past1 inscriptions on tablets1 rocks and temples1 the wistful throb of antiquity in those anxious legacies of a world of men too well aware of man's forgetfulness8 ,whoever alters the work of my hand1 says the conqueror called ,sargon1 destroys my constructions1 pulls down the walls which ,i have raised--may ,asshur1 ,ninb1 ,ramn and the great gods who dwell there pluck his name and seed from the land and let him sit bound at the feet of his foe4 ,invocation of the gods in this manner was the only resource of him who in that far past feared oblivion and knew that there was need to fear4 ,but to a higher ,god1 in words of broken eloquence1 ,job is made to commit his cause1 seeing beyond the perishable world the imperishable remembrance of the ,almighty4 ,so a ,hebrew poet breathed into the wandering air of the desert that brave hope which afterwards1 far beyond his thought1 was in ,israel to be fulfilled4 ,had he been exiled from ,galilee8 ,in ,galilee was to be heard the voice that told of immortality and redemption4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we must go back in the book to find the beginning of the hope now seized4 ,already ,job has been looking forth beyond the region of this little life4 ,what has he seen8 ,first and always1 ,eloah4 ,that name and what it represents do not fail him4 ,he has had terrible experiences1 and all of them must have been appointed by ,eloah4 ,but the name is venerable still1 and despite all difficulties he clings to the idea that righteousness goes with power and wisdom4 ,the power bewilders--the wisdom plans inconceivable things--but beyond there is righteousness4 ,next4 ,he has seen a gleam of light across the darkness of the grave1 through the gloom of the under-world4 ,a man going down thither1--his body to moulder into dust1 his spirit to wander a shadow in a prison of shadows1--may not remain there4 ,god is almighty--,he has the key of ,sheol--a star has shown for a little1 giving hope that out of the under-world life may be recovered4 ,it is seen that ,eloah1 the ,maker1 must have a desire to the work of ,his hands4 ,what does that not mean8 ,again4 ,it has been borne upon his mind that the record of a good life abides and is with the ,all-seeing4 ,what is done cannot be undone4 ,the wasting of the flesh cannot waste that ,divine knowledge4 ,the eternal history cannot be effaced4 ,spiritual life is lived before ,eloah who guards the right of a man4 ,men scorn ,job2 but with tears he has prayed to ,eloah to right his cause1 and that prayer cannot be in vain4 ,a just prayer cannot be in vain because ,god is ever just4 ,from this point thought mounts upward4 ,eloah for ever faithful--,eloah able to open the gate of ,sheol--not angry for ever--,eloah keeping the tablet of every life1 indifferent to no point of right1--these are the steps of progress in ,job's thought and hope4 ,and these are the gain of his trial4 ,in his prosperous time none of these things had been before him4 ,he had known the joy of ,god but not the secret1 the peace not the righteousness4 ,yet he is not aware how much he has gained4 ,he is coming half unconsciously to an inheritance prepared for him in wisdom and in love by ,eloah in whom he trusts4 ,a man needs for life more than he himself can either sow or ripen4 ,and now1 hear ,job4 ,whether the rock shall be graven or not he cannot tell4 ,does it matter8 ,he sees far beyond that inscribed cliff in the desert4 ,he sees what alone can satisfy the spirit that has learned to live4 ',tis life whereof our nerves are scant1 ,oh life not death1 for which we pant2 ,more life1 and fuller1 that ,i want4 ,not dimly this great truth flashes through the web of broken ejaculation1 panting thought4 ,but ,i know it3 my ,redeemer liveth2 ,and afterward on the dust ,he will stand up2 ,and after my skin they destroy1 even this1 ,and without my flesh shall ,i see ,eloah1 ,whom ,i shall see ,,for ,,me1 ,and mine eyes shall behold and not the stranger-- ,my reins are consumed in my bosom4 ,the ,gol or ,redeemer pledged to him by eternal justice is yet to arise1 a living ,remembrancer and ,vindicator from all wrong and dishonour4 ,on the dust that covers death ,he will arise when the day comes4 ,the diseases that prey on the perishing body shall have done their work4 ,in the grave the flesh shall have passed into decay2 but the spirit that has borne shall behold ,him4 ,not for the passing stranger shall be the vindication1 but for ,job himself4 ,all that has been so confounding shall be explained1 for the ,most ,high is the ,gol2 ,he has the care of ,his suffering servant in ,his own hand and will not fail to issue it in clear satisfying judgment4 ,for the inspired writer of these words1 declaring the faith which had sprung up within him2 for us also who desire to share his faith and to be assured of the future vindication1 three barriers stand in the way1 and these have successively to be passed4 ,first is the difficulty of believing that the ,most ,high need trouble ,himself to disentangle all the rights from the wrongs in human life4 ,is humanity of such importance in the universe8 ,god is very high2 human affairs may be of little consequence to ,his eternal majesty4 ,is not this earth on which we dwell one of the smaller of the planets that revolve about the sun8 ,is not our sun one amongst a myriad1 many of them far transcending it in size and splendour8 ,can we demand or even feel hopeful that the ,eternal ,lord shall adjust the disordered equities of our little state and appear for the right which has been obscured in the small affairs of time8 ,a century is long to us2 but our ages are moments in the being of the eternal silence4 ,can it matter to the universe moving through perpetual cycles of evolution1 new races and phases of creaturely life arising and running their course--can it matter that one race should pass away having simply contributed its struggle and desire to the far-off result8 ,conceivably1 in the design of a wise and good ,creator1 this might be a destiny for a race of beings to subserve4 ,how do we know it is not ours8 ,this difficulty has grown4 ,it stands now in the way of all religion1 even of the ,christian faith4 ,god is among the immensities and eternities2 evolution breaks in wave after wave2 we are but one4 ,how can we assure our hearts that the inexterminable longing for equity shall have fulfilment8 ,next there is the difficulty which belongs to the individual life4 ,to enjoy the hope1 feel the certainty to which ,job reached forth1 you or ,i must make the bold assumption that our personal controversies are of eternal importance4 ,one is obscure2 his life has moved in a very narrow circle4 ,he has done little1 he knows little4 ,his sorrows have been keen1 but they are brief and limited4 ,he has been held down1 scorned1 afflicted4 ,but after all why should ,god care8 ,to adjust the affairs of nations1 to bring out the world's history in righteousness may be ,god's concern4 ,but suppose a man lives bravely1 bears patiently1 preserves his life from evil1 though he have to suffer and even go down in darkness1 may not the end of the righteous ,king be gained by the weight his life casts into the scale of faith and virtue8 ,should not the man be satisfied with this result of his energy and look for nothing more8 ,does eternal righteousness demand anything more on behalf of a man8 ,included in this is the question whether the disputes between men1 the small ignorances1 egotisms1 clashing of wills1 need a final assize4 ,are they not trifling and transient8 ,can we affirm that in these is involved an element of justice which it concerns our ,maker to establish before the worlds8 ,the third barrier is not less than the others to modern thought4 ,how is our life to be preserved or revived1 so that personally and consciously we shall have our share in the clearing up of the human story and be gladdened by the ,well done1 good and faithful servant of the ,judge8 ,that verdict is entirely personal2 but how may the faithful servant live to hear it8 ,death appears inexorable4 ,despite the resurrection of ,christ1 despite the words ,he has spoken1 ,i am the resurrection and the life1 even to ,christians the vision is often clouded1 the survival of consciousness hard to believe in4 ,how did the author of ,job pass this barrier--in thought1 or in hope8 ,are we content to pass it only in hope8 ,i answer all these questions together4 ,and the answer lies in the very existence of the idea of justice1 our knowledge of justice1 our desire for it1 the fragmentariness of our history till right has been done to us by others1 by us to others1 by man to ,god1 and ,god to man--the full right1 whatever that may involve4 ,whence came our sense of justice8 ,we can only say1 ,from ,him who made us4 ,he gave us such a nature as cannot be satisfied nor find rest till an ideal of justice1 that is of acted truth1 is framed in our human life and everything possible done to realise it4 ,upon this acted truth all depends1 and till it is reached we are in suspense4 ,deep in the mind of man lies that need4 ,yet it is always a hunger4 ,more and more it unsettles him1 keeps him in unrest1 turning from scheme to scheme of ethic and society4 ,he is ever making compromises1 waiting for evolutions2 but nature knows no compromises and gives him no clue save in present fact4 ,is it possible that ,he who made us will not overpass our poor best1 will not sweep aside the shifts and evasions current in our imperfect economy8 ,the passion for righteousness comes from him2 it is a ray of ,himself4 ,the soul of the good man craving perfect holiness and toiling for it in himself1 in others1 can it be greater than ,god1 more strenuous1 more subtle than the ,divine evolution that gave him birth1 the ,divine ,father of his spirit8 ,impossible in thought1 impossible in fact4 ,no4 ,justice there is in every matter4 ,surely science has taught us very little if it has not banished the notion that the small means the unimportant1 that minute things are of no moment in evolution4 ,for many years past science has been constructing for us the great argument of universal physical fidelity1 universal weaving of the small details into the vast evolutionary design4 ,the microscopist1 the biologist1 the chemist1 the astronomer1 each and all are engaged in building up this argument1 forcing the confession that the universe is one of inconceivably small things ordered throughout by law4 ,finish and care would seem to be given everywhere to minuti as though1 that being done1 the great would certainly evolve4 ,further1 science even when dealing with material things emphasises the importance of mind4 ,the truthfulness of nature at any point in the physical range is a truthfulness of the ,overnature to the mind of man1 a correlation established between physical and spiritual existence4 ,wherever order and care are brought into view there is an exaltation of the human reason which perceives and relates4 ,all would be thrown into confusion if the fidelity recognised by the mind did not extend to the mind itself1 if the sanity and development of the mind were not included in the order of the universe4 ,for the psychological student this is established1 and the working of evolutionary law is being traced in the obscure phenomena of consciousness1 sub-consciousness and habit4 ,is it of importance that each of the gases shall have laws of diffusion and combination1 shall act according to those laws1 unvaryingly affecting vegetable and animal life8 ,unless those laws wrought in constancy or equity at every moment all would be confusion4 ,is it of importance that the bird1 using its wings1 shall be able to soar into the atmosphere2 that the wings adapted for flight shall find an atmosphere in which their exercise produces movement8 ,here again is an equity which enters into the very constitution of the cosmos1 which must be a form of the one supreme law of the cosmos4 ,once more1 is it of importance that the thinker shall find sequences and relations1 when once established1 a sound basis for prediction and discovery1 that he shall be able to trust himself on lines of research and feel certain that1 at every point1 for the instrument of inquiry there is answering verity8 ,without this correspondence man would have no real place in evolution1 he would flutter an aimless unrelated sensitiveness through a storm of physical incidents4 ,advance to the most important facts of mind1 the moral ideas which enter into every department of thought1 the inductions through which we find our place in another range than the physical4 ,does the fidelity already traced now cease8 ,is man at this point beyond the law of faithfulness1 beyond the invariable correlation of environment with faculty8 ,does he now come to a region which he cannot choose but enter1 where1 however1 the cosmos fails him1 the beating wing cannot rise1 the inquiring mind reaches no verity1 and the consciousness does flutter an inexplicable thing through dreams and illusions8 ,a man has it in his nature to seek justice4 ,peace for him there is none unless he does what is right and can believe that right will be done4 ,with this high conviction in his mind he is opposed1 as in this ,book of ,job1 by false men1 overthrown by calamity1 covered with harsh judgment4 ,death approaches and he has to pass away from a world that seems to have failed him4 ,shall he never see his right nor ,god's righteousness8 ,shall he never come to his own as a man of good will and high resolve8 ,has he been true to a cosmos which after all is treacherous1 to a rule of virtue which has no authority and no issue8 ,he believes in a ,lord of infinite justice and truth2 that his life1 small as it is1 cannot be apart from the pervading law of equity4 ,is that his dream8 ,then any moment the whole system of the universe may collapse like a bubble blown upon a marsh4 99 99 99 99 99 ,now let us clearly understand the point and value of the argument4 ,it is not that a man who has served ,god here and suffered here must have a joyful immortality4 ,what man is faithful enough to make such a claim8 ,but the principle is that ,god must vindicate ,his righteousness in dealing with the man ,he has made1 the man ,he has called to trust ,him4 ,it matters not who the man is1 how obscure his life has been1 he has this claim on ,god1 that to him the eternal righteousness ought to be made clear4 ,job cries for his own justification2 but the doubt about ,god involved in the slur cast upon his own integrity is what rankles in his heart2 from that he rises in triumphant protest and daring hope4 ,he must live till ,god clears up the matter4 ,if he dies he must revive to have it all made clear4 ,and observe1 if it were only that ignorant men cast doubt on providence1 the resurrection and personal redemption of the believer would not be necessary4 ,god is not responsible for the foolish things men say1 and we could not look for resurrection because our fellow-creatures misrepresent ,god4 ,but ,job feels that ,god ,himself has caused the perplexity4 ,god sent the flash of lightning1 the storm1 the dreadful disease2 it is ,god who by many strange things in human experience seems to give cause for doubt4 ,from ,god in nature1 ,god in disease1 ,god in the earthquake and the thunderstorm1 ,god whose way is in the sea and ,his path in the mighty waters--from this ,god1 ,job cries in hope1 in moral conviction1 to ,god the ,vindicator1 the eternally righteous ,one1 ,author of nature and ,friend of man4 ,this life may terminate before the full revelation of right is made2 it may leave the good in darkness and the evil flaunting in pride2 the believer may go down in shame and the atheist have the last word4 ,therefore a future life with judgment in full must vindicate our ,creator2 and every personality involved in the problems of time must go forward to the opening of the seals and the fulfilment of the things that are written in the volumes of ,god4 ,this evolution being for the earlier stage and discipline of life1 it works out nothing1 completes nothing4 ,what it does is to furnish the awaking spirit with material of thought1 opportunity for endeavour1 the elements of life2 with trial1 temptation1 stimulus1 and restraint4 ,no one who lives to any purpose or thinks with any sincerity can miss in the course of his life one hour at least in which he shares the tragical contest and adds the cry of his own soul to that of ,job1 his own hope to that of ages that are gone1 straining to see the ,gol who undertakes for every servant of ,god4 ,i know it3 my ,redeemer liveth1 ,and afterward on the dust ,he will stand up2 ,and without my flesh ,i shall see ,eloah4 ,by slow cycles of change the vast scheme of ,divine providence draws toward a glorious consummation4 ,the believer waits for it1 seeing ,one who has gone before him and will come after him1 the ,alpha and ,omega of all life4 ,the fulness of time will at length arrive1 the time foreordained by ,god1 foretold by ,christ1 when the throne shall be set1 the judgment shall be given1 and the ons of manifestation shall begin4 ,and who in that day shall be the sons of ,god8 ,which of us can say that he knows himself worthy of immortality8 ,how imperfect is the noblest human life1 how often it falls away into the folly and evil of the world6 ,we need one to deliver us from the imperfection that gives to all we are and do the character of evanescence1 to set us free from our entanglements and bring us into liberty4 ,we are poor erring creatures4 ,only if there is a ,divine purpose of grace that extends to the unworthy and the frail1 only if there is redemption for the earthly1 only if a ,divine ,saviour has undertaken to justify our existence as moral beings1 can we look hopefully into the future4 ,job looked for a ,redeemer who would bring to light a righteousness he claimed to possess4 ,but our ,redeemer must be able to awaken in us the love of a righteousness we alone could never see and to clothe us in a holiness we could never of ourselves attain4 ,the problem of justice in human life will be solved because our race has a ,redeemer whose judgment when it falls will fall in tenderest mercy1 who bore our injustice for our sakes and will vindicate for us that transcendent righteousness which is for ever one with love4 ,,xvii4 ,,ignorant ,,criticism ,,of ,,life4 ,,zophar ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 xx4 ,the great saying that quickens our faith and carries thought into a higher world conveyed no ,divine meaning to the man from ,naamah4 ,the author must have intended to pour scorn on the hide-bound intelligence and rude bigotry of ,zophar1 to show him dwarfed by self-content and zeal not according to knowledge4 ,when ,job affirmed his sublime confidence in a ,divine ,vindicator1 ,zophar caught only at the idea of an avenger4 ,what is this notion of a ,gol on whose support a condemned man dares to count1 who shall do judgment for him8 ,and his resentment was increased by the closing words of ,job3-- ,if ye say1 ,how may we pursue him8 ,and that the cause of the matter is in me-- ,then beware of the sword6 ,for hot are the punishments of the sword1 ,that ye may know there is judgment4 ,if they went on declaring that the root of the matter1 that is1 the real cause of his affliction1 was to be found in his own bad life1 let them beware the avenging sword of ,divine justice4 ,he certainly implies that his ,gol may become their enemy if they continue to persecute him with false charges4 ,to ,zophar the suggestion is intolerable4 ,with no little irritation and anger he begins3-- ,for this do my thoughts answer me1 ,and by reason of this there is haste in me-- ,i hear the reproof which puts me to shame1 ,and the spirit of my understanding gives me answer4 ,he speaks more hotly than in his first address1 because his pride is touched1 and that prevents him from distinguishing between a warning and a personal threat4 ,to a ,zophar every man is blind who does not see as he sees1 and every word offensive that bids him take pause4 ,believers of his kind have always liked to appropriate the defence of truth1 and they have seldom done anything but harm4 ,conceive the dulness and obstinacy of one who heard an inspired utterance altogether new to human thought1 and straightway turned in resentment on the man from whom it came4 ,he is an example of the bigot in the presence of genius1 a little uncomfortable1 a good deal affronted1 very sure that he knows the mind of ,god1 and very determined to have the last word4 ,such were the ,scribes and ,pharisees of our ,lord's time1 most religious persons and zealous for what they considered sound doctrine4 ,his light shone in darkness1 and their darkness comprehended it not2 they did ,him to death with an accusation of impiety and blasphemy--,he made ,himself the ,son of ,god1 they said4 ,zophar's whole speech is a fresh example of the dogmatic hardness the writer was assailing1 the closure of the mind and the stiffening of thought4 ,one might not unjustly accuse this speaker of neglecting the moral difference between the profane whose triumph and joy he declares to be short1 and the good man whose career is full of years and honour4 ,we may almost say that to him outward success is the only mark of inward grace1 and that prosperous hypocrisy would be mistaken by him for the most beautiful piety4 ,his whole creed about providence and retribution is such that he is on the way to utter confusion of mind4 ,why1 he has said to himself that ,job is a wicked and false man--,job whose striking characteristic is outspoken truthfulness1 whose integrity is the pride of his ,divine ,master4 ,and if ,zophar once accepts it as indisputable that ,job is neither good nor sincere1 what will the end be for himself8 ,with more and more assurance he will judge from a man's prosperity that he is righteous1 and from his afflictions that he is a reprobate4 ,he will twist and torture facts of life and modes of thought1 till the worship of property will become his real cult1 and to him the poor will of necessity seem worthless4 ,this is just what happened in ,israel4 ,it is just what slovenly interpretation of the ,bible and providence has brought many to in our own time4 ,side by side with a doctrine of self-sacrifice incredible and mischievous1 there is a doctrine of the earthly reward of godliness--religion profitable for the life that now is1 in the way of filling the pockets and conducting to eminent seats--an absurd and hurtful doctrine1 for ever being taught in one form if not another1 and applied all along the line of human life4 ,an honest1 virtuous man1 is he sure to find a good place in our society8 ,the rich broker or manufacturer1 because he washes1 dresses1 and has twenty servants to wait upon him1 is he therefore a fine soul8 ,nobody will say so4 ,yet ,christianity is so little understood in some quarters1 is so much associated with the error of ,zophar1 that within the church a score are of his opinion for one who is in ,job's perplexity4 ,outside1 the proportion is much the same4 ,the moral ideas and philanthropies of our generation are perverted by the notion that no one is succeeding as a man unless he is making money and rising in the social scale4 ,so1 independence of mind1 freedom1 integrity1 and the courage by which they are secured1 are made of comparatively little account4 ,it will be said that if things were rightly ordered1 ,christian ideas prevailing in business1 in legislation and social intercourse1 the best people would certainly be in the highest places and have the best of life1 and that1 meanwhile1 the improvement of the world depends on some approximation to this state of affairs4 ,that is to say1 spiritual power and character must come into visible union with the resources of the earth and possession of its good things1 otherwise there will be no moral progress4 ,divine providence1 we are told1 works after that manner2 and the reasoning is plausible enough to require close attention4 ,there has always been peril for religion in association with external power and prestige--and the peril of religion is the peril of progress4 ,will spiritual ideas ever urge those whose lives they rule to seek with any solicitude the gifts of time8 ,will they not1 on the other hand1 increasingly1 as they ought1 draw the desires of the best away from what is immediate1 earthly1 and in all the lower senses personal8 ,to put it in a word1 must not the man of spiritual mind always be a prophet1 that is1 a critic of human life in its relations to the present world8 ,will there come a time in the history of the race when the criticism of the prophet shall no longer be needed and his mantle will fall from him8 ,that can only be when all the ,lord's people are prophets1 when everywhere the earthly is counted as nothing in view of the heavenly1 when men will seek continually a new revelation of good1 and the criticism of ,christ shall be so acknowledged that no one shall need to repeat after ,him1 ,how can ye believe which receive honour one of another1 and seek not the honour that cometh from ,god only8 ,by heavenly means alone shall heavenly ends be secured1 and the keen pursuit of earthly good will never bring the race of men into the paradise where ,christ reigns4 ,outward magnificence is neither a symbol nor an ally of spiritual power4 ,it hinders instead of aiding the soul in the quest of what is eternally excellent1 touching the sensuous1 not the divine1 in man4 ,christ is still1 as in the days of ,his flesh1 utterly indifferent to the means by which power and distinction are gained in the world4 ,the spread of ,his ideas1 the manifestation of ,his ,godhead1 the coming of ,his ,kingdom1 depend not the least on the countenance of the great and the impression produced on rude minds by the shows of wealth4 ,the first task of ,his gospel everywhere is to correct the barbaric tastes of men2 and the highest and best in a spiritual age will be1 as ,he was1 thinkers1 seers of truth1 lovers of ,god and man1 lowly in heart and life4 ,these will express the penetrating criticism that shall move the world4 99 99 99 99 99 ,zophar discourses of one who is openly unjust and rapacious4 ,he is candid enough to admit that1 for a time1 the schemes and daring of the wicked may succeed1 but affirms that1 though his head may reach to the clouds1 it is only that he may be cast down4 ,knowest thou not this from of old1 ,since man was placed upon earth1 ,that the triumphing of the wicked is short1 ,and the joy of the godless but for a moment8 ,though his excellency ascend to heaven1 ,and his head reach to the clouds1 ,yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung3 ,they who saw him shall say1 ,where is he8 ,like a dream he shall flee1 no more to be found1 ,yea1 he shall be chased away like a night-vision4 ,as a certainty1 based on facts quite evident since the beginning of human history1 ,zophar presents anew the overthrow of the evil-doer4 ,he is sure that the wicked does not keep his prosperity through a long life4 ,such a thing has never occurred in the range of human experience4 ,the godless man is allowed1 no doubt1 to lift himself up for a time2 but his day is short4 ,indeed he is great for a moment only1 and that in appearance4 ,he never actually possesses the good things of earth1 but only seems to possess them4 ,then in the hour of judgment he passes like a dream and perishes for ever4 ,the affirmation is precisely that which has been made again and again2 and with some curiosity we scan the words of ,zophar to learn what addition he makes to the scheme so often pressed4 ,sooth to say1 there is no reasoning1 nothing but affirmation4 ,he discusses no doubtful case1 enters into no careful discrimination of the virtuous who enjoy from the godless who perish1 makes no attempt to explain the temporary success granted to the wicked4 ,the man he describes is one who has acquired wealth by unlawful means1 who conceals his wickedness1 rolling it like a sweet morsel under his tongue4 ,we are told further that he has oppressed and neglected the poor and violently taken away a house1 and he has so behaved himself that all the miserable watch for his downfall with hungry eyes4 ,but these charges1 virtually of avarice1 rapacity1 and inhumanity1 are far from definite1 far from categorical4 ,not without reason would any man have so bad a reputation1 and if deserved it would ensure the combination against him of all right-minded people4 ,but men may be evil-hearted and inhuman who are not rapacious2 they may be vile and yet not given to avarice4 ,and ,zophar's account of the ruin of the profane1 though he makes it a ,divine act1 pictures the rising of society against one whose conduct is no longer endurable--a robber chief1 the tyrant of a valley4 ,his argument fails in this1 that though the history of the proud evil-doer's destruction were perfectly true to fact1 it would apply to a very few only amongst the population1--one in ten thousand1--leaving the justice of ,divine providence in greater doubt than ever1 because the avarice and selfishness of smaller men are not shown to have corresponding punishment1 are not indeed so much as considered4 ,zophar describes one whose bold and flagrant iniquity rouses the resentment of those not particularly honest themselves1 not religious1 nor even humane1 but merely aware of their own danger from his violent rapacity4 ,a man1 however1 may be avaricious who is not strong1 may have the will to prey on others but not the power4 ,the real distinction1 therefore1 of ,zophar's criminal is his success in doing what many of those he oppresses and despoils would do if they were able1 and the picturesque passage leaves no deep moral impression4 ,we read it and seem to feel that the overthrow of this evil-doer is one of the rare and happy instances of poetical justice which sometimes occur in real life1 but not so frequently as to make a man draw back in the act of oppressing a poor dependant or robbing a helpless widow4 ,in an sincerity ,zophar speaks1 with righteous indignation against the man whose ruin he paints1 persuaded that he is following1 step for step1 the march of ,divine judgment4 ,his eye kindles1 his voice rings with poetic exultation4 ,he hath swallowed down riches2 he shall vomit them again3 ,god shall cast them out of his belly4 ,he shall suck the poison of asps2 ,the viper's tongue shall slay him4 ,he shall not look upon the rivers1 ,the flowing streams of honey and butter4 ,that which he toiled for shall he restore1 ,and shall not swallow it down2 ,not according to the wealth he has gotten ,shall he have enjoyment4444 ,there was nothing left that he devoured not2 ,therefore his prosperity shall not abide4 ,in his richest abundance he shall be in straits2 ,the hand of every miserable one shall come upon him4 ,when he is about to fill his belly ,god shall cast the fury of ,his wrath upon him ,and rain upon him his food4 ,he has succeeded for a time1 concealing or fortifying himself among the mountains4 ,he has store of silver and gold and garments taken by violence1 of cattle and sheep captured in the plain4 ,but the district is roused4 ,little by little he is driven back into the uninhabited desert4 ,his supplies are cut off and he is brought to extremity4 ,his food becomes to him as the gall of asps4 ,with all his ill-gotten wealth he is in straits1 for he is hunted from place to place4 ,not for him now the luxury of the green oasis and the coolness of flowing streams4 ,he is an outlaw1 in constant danger of discovery4 ,his children wander to places where they are not known and beg for bread4 ,reduced to abject fear1 he restores the goods he had taken by violence1 trying to buy off the enmity of his pursuers4 ,then come the last skirmish1 the clash of weapons1 ignominious death4 ,he shall flee from the iron weapon1 ,and the bow of brass shall pierce him through4 ,he draweth it forth2 it cometh out of his body3 ,yea1 the glittering shaft cometh out of his gall4 ,terrors are upon him1 ,all darkness is laid up for his treasures2 ,a fire not blown shall consume him1 ,it shall devour him that is left in his tent4 ,the heaven shall reveal his iniquity1 ,and the earth shall rise against him4 ,the increase of his house shall depart1 ,be washed away in the day of ,his wrath4 ,this is the lot of a wicked man from ,god1 ,and the heritage appointed to him by ,god4 ,vain is resistance when he is brought to bay by his enemies4 ,a moment of overwhelming terror1 and he is gone4 ,his tent blazes up and is consumed1 as if the breath of ,god made hot the avenging flame4 ,within it his wife and children perish4 ,heaven seems to have called for his destruction and earth to have obeyed the summons4 ,so the craft and strength of the free-booter1 living on the flocks and harvests of industrious people1 are measured vainly against the indignation of ,god1 who has ordained the doom of wickedness4 ,a powerful word-picture4 ,yet if ,zophar and the rest taught such a doctrine of retribution1 and1 put to it1 could find no other2 if they were in the way of saying1 ,this is the lot of a wicked man from ,god1 how far away must ,divine judgment have seemed from ordinary life1 from the falsehoods daily spoken1 the hard words and blows dealt to the slave1 the jealousies and selfishnesses of the harem4 ,under the pretext of showing the righteous ,judge1 ,zophar makes it impossible1 or next to impossible1 to realise ,his presence and authority4 ,men must be stirred up on ,god's behalf or ,his judicial anger will not be felt4 ,it is however when we apply the picture to the case of ,job that we see its falsehood4 ,against the facts of his career ,zophar's account of ,divine judgment stands out as flat heresy1 a foul slander charged on the providence of ,god4 ,for he means that ,job wore in his own settlement the hypocritical dress of piety and benevolence and must have elsewhere made brigandage his trade1 that his servants who died by the sword of ,chaldans and ,sabeans and the fire of heaven had been his army of rievers1 that the cause of his ruin was heaven's intolerance and earth's detestation of so vile a life4 ,zophar describes poetic justice1 and reasons back from it to ,job4 ,now it becomes flagrant injustice against ,god and man4 ,we cannot argue from what sometimes is to what must be4 ,although ,zophar had taken in hand to convict one really and unmistakably a miscreant1 truth alone would have served the cause of righteousness4 ,but he assumes1 conjectures1 and is immeasurably unjust and cruel to his friend4 ,,xviii4 ,,are ,,the ,,ways ,,of ,,the ,,lord ,,equal8 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 xxi4 ,with less of personal distress and a more collected mind than before ,job begins a reply to ,zophar4 ,his brave hope of vindication has fortified his soul and is not without effect upon his bodily state4 ,the quietness of tone in this final address of the second colloquy contrasts with his former agitation and the growing eagerness of the friends to convict him of wrong4 ,true1 he has still to speak of facts of human life troublous and inscrutable4 ,where they lie he must look1 and terror seizes him1 as if he moved on the edge of chaos4 ,it is1 however1 no longer his own controversy with ,god that disquiets him4 ,for the time he is able to leave that to the day of revelation4 ,but seeing a vaster field in which righteousness must be revealed1 he compels himself1 as it were1 to face the difficulties which are encountered in that survey4 ,the friends have throughout the colloquy presented in varying pictures the offensiveness of the wicked man and his sure destruction4 ,job1 extending his view over the field they have professed to search1 sees the facts in another light4 ,while his statement is in the way of a direct negative to ,zophar's theory1 he has to point out what seems dreadful injustice in the providence of ,god4 ,he is not however1 drawn anew into the tone of revolt4 ,the opening words are as usual expostulatory1 but with a ring of vigour4 ,job sets the arguments of his friends aside and the only demand he makes now is for their attention4 ,hear diligently my speech1 ,and let that be your consolations4 ,suffer me that ,i may speak2 ,and after ,i have spoken1 mock on4 ,as for me1 is my complaint of man8 ,and why should ,i not be impatient8 ,what he has said hitherto has had little effect upon them2 what he is to say may have none4 ,but he will speak2 and afterwards1 if ,zophar finds that he can maintain his theory1 why1 he must keep to it and mock on4 ,at present the speaker is in the mood of disdaining false judgment4 ,he quite understands the conclusion come to by the friends4 ,they have succeeded in wounding him time after time4 ,but what presses upon his mind is the state of the world as it really is4 ,another impatience than of human falsehood urges him to speak4 ,he has returned upon the riddle of life he gave ,zophar to read--why the tents of robbers prosper and they that provoke ,god are secure 7chap4 xii4 #f74 ,suppose the three let him alone for a while and consider the question largely1 in its whole scope4 ,they shall consider it1 for1 certainly1 the robber chief may be seen here and there in full swing of success1 with his children about him1 gaily enjoying the fruit of sin1 and as fearless as if the ,almighty were his special protector4 ,here is something that needs clearing up4 ,is it not enough to make a strong man shake8 ,mark me1 and be astonished1 ,and lay the hand upon the mouth4 ,even while ,i remember ,i am troubled1 ,and trembling taketh hold of my flesh-- ,wherefore do the wicked live1 ,become old1 yea1 wax mighty in power8 ,their seed is settled with them in their sight1 ,and their offspring before their eyes2 ,their houses are in peace1 without fear1 ,and the rod of ,god is not upon them4444 ,they send forth their little ones like a flock1 ,and their children dance2 ,they sing to the timbrel and lute1 ,and rejoice at the sound of the pipe4 ,they spend their days in ease1 ,and in a moment go down to ,sheol4 ,yet they said to ,god1 ,depart from us1 ,for we desire not to know ,thy ways4 ,what is ,shaddai that we should serve ,him8 ,and what profit should we have if we pray unto ,him8 ,contrast the picture here with those which ,bildad and ,zophar painted--and where lies the truth8 ,sufficiently on ,job's side to make one who is profoundly interested in the question of ,divine righteousness stand appalled4 ,there was an error of judgment inseparable from that early stage of human education in which vigour and the gains of vigour counted for more than goodness and the gains of goodness1 and this error clouding the thought of ,job made him tremble for his faith4 ,is nature ,god's8 ,does ,god arrange the affairs of this world8 ,why then1 under ,his rule1 can the godless have enjoyment1 and those who deride the ,almighty feast on the fat things of ,his earth8 ,job has sent into the future a single penetrating look4 ,he has seen the possibility of vindication1 but not the certainty of retribution4 ,the underworld into which the evil-doer descends in a moment1 without protracted misery1 appears to ,job no hell of torment4 ,it is a region of reduced1 incomplete existence1 not of penalty4 ,the very clearness with which he saw vindication for himself1 that is1 for the good man1 makes it needful to see the wrong-doer judged and openly condemned4 ,where then shall this be done8 ,the writer1 with all his genius1 could only throw one vivid gleam beyond the present4 ,he could not frame a new idea of ,sheol1 nor1 passing its cloud confines1 reach the thought of personality continuing in acute sensations either of joy or pain4 ,the ungodly ought to feel the heavy hand of ,divine justice in the present state of being4 ,but he does not4 ,nature makes room for him and his children1 for their gay dances and life-long hilarity4 ,heaven does not frown4 ,the wicked live1 become old1 yea1 wax mighty in power2 their houses are in peace1 without fear4 ,from the climax of chap4 xix4 the speeches of ,job seem to fall away instead of advancing4 ,the author had one brilliant journey into the unseen1 but the peak he reached could not be made a new point of departure4 ,knowledge he did not possess was now required4 ,he saw before him a pathless ocean where no man had shown the way1 and inspiration seems to have failed him4 ,his power lay in remarkably keen analysis and criticism of known theological positions and in glowing poetic sense4 ,his inspiration working through these persuaded him that everywhere ,god is the ,holy and ,true4 ,it is scarcely to be supposed that condemnation of the evil could have seemed to him of less importance than vindication of the good4 ,our conclusion therefore must be that a firm advance into the other life was not for genius like his1 nor for human genius at its highest4 ,one more than man must speak of the great judgment and what lies beyond4 ,clearly ,job sees the unsolved enigma of the godless man's prosperous life1 states it1 and stands trembling4 ,regarding it what have other thinkers said8 ,if the law of all creation were justice1 says ,john ,stuart ,mill1 and the ,creator omnipotent1 then in whatever amount suffering and happiness might be dispensed to the world1 each person's share of them would be exactly proportioned to that person's good or evil deeds2 no human being would have a worse lot than another without worse deserts2 accident or favouritism would have no part in such a world1 but every human life would be the playing out of a drama constructed like a perfect moral tale4 ,no one is able to blind himself to the fact that the world we live in is totally different from this4 ,emerson1 again1 facing this problem1 repudiates the doctrine that judgment is not executed in this world4 ,he affirms that there is a fallacy in the concession that the bad are successful1 that justice is not done now4 ,every ingenuous and aspiring soul1 he says1 leaves the doctrine behind him in his own experience2 and all men feel sometimes the falsehood which they cannot demonstrate4 ,his theory is that there is balance or compensation everywhere4 ,life invests itself with inevitable conditions1 which the unwise seek to dodge1 which one and another brags that he does not know1 that they do not touch him2--but the brag is on his lips1 the conditions are in his soul4 ,if he escapes them in one part1 they attack him in another more vital part4444 ,the ingenuity of man has always been dedicated to the solution of one problem1--how to detach the sensual sweet1 the sensual strong1 the sensual bright1 from the moral sweet1 the moral deep1 the moral fair2 that is1 again1 to contrive to cut clean off this upper surface so thin as to leave it bottomless2 to get a one end1 without an other end4444 ,this dividing and detaching is steadily counteracted4 ,pleasure is taken out of pleasant things1 profit out of profitable things1 power out of strong things1 so soon as we seek to separate them from the whole4 ,we can no more halve things and get the sensual good1 by itself1 than we can get an inside that shall have no outside1 or a light without a shadow4444 ,for everything you have missed1 you have gained something else1 and for everything you gain you lose something4 ,if the gatherer gathers too much1 nature takes out of the man what she puts into his chest2 swells the estate but kills the owner4444 ,we feel defrauded of the retribution due to evil acts1 because the criminal adheres to his vice and contumacy1 and does not come to a crisis or judgment anywhere in visible nature4 ,there is no stunning confutation of his nonsense before men and angels4 ,has he therefore outwitted the law8 ,inasmuch as he carries the malignity and the lie with him1 he so far deceases from nature4 ,in some manner there will be a demonstration of the wrong to the understanding also2 but1 should we not see it1 this deadly deduction makes square the account4#c ,the argument reaches far beneath that superficial condemnation of the order of providence which disfigures ,mr4 ,mill's essay on ,nature4 ,so far as it goes1 it illuminates the present stage of human existence4 ,the light1 however1 is not sufficient1 for we cannot consent to the theory that in an ideal scheme1 a perfect or eternal state1 he who would have holiness must sacrifice power1 and he who would be true must be content to be despised4 ,there is1 we cannot doubt1 a higher law2 for this does not in any sense apply to the life of ,god ,himself4 ,in the discipline which prepares for liberty1 there must be restraints and limitations1 gain--that is1 development--by renunciation2 earthly ends must be subordinated to spiritual2 sacrifices must be made4 ,but the present state does not exhaust the possibilities of development nor close the history of man4 ,there is a kingdom out of which shall be taken all things that offend4 ,to ,emerson's compensations must be added the compensation of ,heaven4 ,still he lifts the problem out of the deep darkness which troubled ,job4 ,and with respect to the high position and success bad men are allowed to enjoy1 another writer1 ,bushnell1 well points out that permission of their opulence and power by ,god aids the development of moral ideas4 ,it is simply letting society and man be what they are1 to show what they are4 ,the retributive stroke1 swift and visible1 is not needed to declare this4 ,if one is hard upon the poor1 harsh to children1 he makes1 or may1 a very great discovery of himself4 ,what is in him is mirrored forth by his acts1 and distinctly mirrored in them4444 ,if he is unjust1 passionate1 severe1 revengeful1 jealous1 dishonest1 and supremely selfish1 he is in just that scale of society or social relationship that brings him out to himself4444 ,evil is scarcely to be known as evil till it takes the condition of authority4 ,we do not understand it till we see what kind of god it will make1 and by what sort of rule it will manage its empire4444 ,just here all the merit of ,god's plan1 as regards the permission of power in the hands of wicked men1 will be found to hinge2 namely1 on the fact that evil is not only revealed in its baleful presence and agency1 but the peoples and ages are put heaving against it and struggling after deliverance from it4#d ,it was1 we say1 ,job's difficulty that against the new conception of ,divine righteousness which he sought the early idea stood opposed that life meant vigour mainly in the earthly range4 ,during a long period of the world's history this belief was dominant1 and virtue signified the strength of man's arm1 his courage in conflict1 rather than his truth in judgment and his purity of heart4 ,the outward gains corresponding to that early virtue were the proof of the worth of life4 ,and even when the moral qualities began to be esteemed1 and a man was partly measured by the quality of his soul1 still the tests of outward success and the gains of the inferior virtue continued to be applied to his life4 ,hence the perturbation of ,job and1 to some extent1 the false judgment of providence quoted from a modern writer4 ,but the chapter we are considering shows1 if we rightly interpret the obscure #afth verse1 that the author tried to get beyond the merely sensuous and earthly reckoning4 ,those prospered who denied the authority of ,god and put aside religion with the rudest scepticism4 ,there was no good in prayer1 they said2 it brought no gain4 ,the ,almighty was nothing to them4 ,without thought of ,his commands they sought their profit and their pleasure1 and found all they desired4 ,looking steadfastly at their life1 ,job sees its hollowness1 and abruptly exclaims3-- ,ha6 their good is not in their hand3 ,the counsel of the wicked be far from me6 ,good6 was that good which they grasped--their abundance1 their treasure8 ,were they to be called blessed because their children danced to the lute and the pipe and they enjoyed the best earth could provide8 ,the real good of life was not theirs4 ,they had not ,god2 they had not the exultation of trusting and serving ,him2 they had not the good conscience towards ,god and man which is the crown of life4 ,the man lying in disease and shame would not exchange his lot for theirs4 ,but ,job must argue still against his friends' belief that the wicked are visited with the judgment of the ,most ,high in the loss of their earthly possessions4 ,the triumphing of the wicked is short1 said ,zophar1 and the joy of the godless but for a moment4 ,is it so8 ,how often is the lamp of the wicked put out8 ,that their calamity cometh upon them8 ,that ,god distributeth sorrows in ,his anger8 ,that they are as stubble before the wind1 ,and as chaff that the storm carrieth away8 ,one in a thousand1 ,job may admit1 has the light extinguished in his tent and is swept out of the world4 ,but is it the rule or the exception that such visible judgment falls even on the robber chief8 ,the first psalm has it that the wicked are like the chaff which the wind driveth away4 ,the words of that chant may have been in the mind of the author4 ,if so1 he disputes the doctrine4 ,and further he rejects with contempt the idea that though a transgressor himself lives long and enjoys to the end1 his children after him may bear his punishment4 ,ye say1 ,god layeth up his iniquity for his children4 ,let ,him recompense it unto himself1 that he may know it4 ,let his own eyes see his destruction1 ,and let him drink of the wrath of ,shaddai4 ,for what pleasure hath he in his house after him1 ,when the number of his moons is cut off in the midst8 ,the righteousness ,job is in quest of will not be satisfied with visitation of the iniquities of the fathers upon the children4 ,he will not accept the proverb which ,ezekiel afterwards repudiated1 ,the fathers have eaten sour grapes1 the children's teeth are set on edge4 ,he demands that the ways of ,god shall be equal1 that the soul that sinneth shall bear its punishment4 ,is it anything to a wicked man that his children are scattered and have to beg their bread when he has passed away8 ,a man grossly selfish would not be vexed by the affliction of his family even if1 down in ,sheol1 he could know of it4 ,what ,zophar has to prove is that every man who has lived a godless life is made to drink the cup of ,shaddai's indignation4 ,though he trembles in sight of the truth1 ,job will press it on those who argue falsely for ,god4 ,and with the sense of the inscrutable purposes of the ,most ,high burdening his soul he proceeds-- ,shall any teach ,god knowledge8 ,seeing ,he judgeth those that are high8 ,easy was it to insist that thus or thus ,divine providence ordained4 ,but the order of things established by ,god is not to be forced into harmony with a human scheme of judgment4 ,he who rules in the heights of heaven knows how to deal with men on earth2 and for them to teach ,him knowledge is at once arrogant and absurd4 ,the facts are evident1 must be accepted and reckoned with in all submission2 especially must his friends consider the fact of death1 how death comes1 and they will then find themselves unable to declare the law of the ,divine government4 ,as yet1 even to ,job1 though he has gazed beyond death1 its mystery is oppressive2 and he is right in urging that mystery upon his friends to convict them of ignorance and presumption4 ,distinctions they affirm to lie between the good and the wicked are not made by ,god in appointing the hour of death4 ,one is called away in his strong and lusty manhood2 another lingers till his becomes bitter and all the bodily functions are impaired4 ,alike they lie down in the dust and the worms cover them4 ,the thought is full of suggestion2 but ,job presses on1 returning for a moment to the false charges against himself that he may bring a final argument to bear on his accusers4 ,behold1 ,i know your thoughts1 ,and the devices ye wrongfully imagine against me4 ,for ye say1 ,where is the house of the prince8 ,and1 ,where the tents in which the wicked dwelt8 ,have ye not asked them that go by the way8 ,and do ye not regard their tokens-- ,that the wicked is spared in the day of destruction1 ,that they are led forth in the day of wrath8 ,so far from being overwhelmed in calamity the evil doer is considered1 saved as by an unseen hand4 ,whose hand8 ,my house is wasted1 my habitations are desolate1 ,i am in extremity1 ready to die4 ,true3 but those who go up and down the land would teach you to look for a different end to my career if ,i had been the proud transgressor you wrongly assume me to have been4 ,i would have found a way of safety when the storm-clouds gathered and the fire of heaven burned4 ,my prosperity would scarcely have been interrupted4 ,if ,i had been what you say1 not one of you would have dared to charge me with crimes against men or impiety towards ,god4 ,you would have been trembling now before me4 ,the power of an unscrupulous man is not easily broken4 ,he faces fate1 braves and overcomes the judgment of society4 ,and society accepts his estimate of himself1 counts him happy1--pays him honour at his death4 ,the scene at his funeral confutes the specious interpretation of providence that has been so often used as a weapon against ,job4 ,perhaps ,eliphaz1 ,bildad1 and ,zophar know something of obsequies paid to a prosperous tyrant1 so powerful that they dared not deny him homage even when he lay on his bier4 ,who shall repay the evil-doer what he hath done8 ,yea1 he is borne to the grave1 ,and they keep watch over his tomb2 ,the clods of the valley are sweet to him1 ,and all men draw after him1 ,as without number they go before him4 ,it is the gathering of a country-side1 the tumultuous procession1 a vast disorderly crowd before the bier1 a multitude after it surging along to the place of tombs4 ,and there1 in nature's greenest heart1 where the clods of the valley are sweet1 they make his grave--and there as over the dust of one of the honourable of the earth they keep watch4 ,too true is the picture4 ,power begets fear and fear enforces respect4 ,with tears and lamentations the ,arabs went1 with all the trappings of formal grief moderns may be seen in crowds following the corpse of one who had neither a fine soul nor a good heart1 nothing but money and success to commend him to his fellow-men4 99 99 99 99 99 ,so the writer ends the second act of the drama1 and the controversy remains much where it was4 ,the meaning of calamity1 the nature of the ,divine government of the world are not extracted4 ,this only is made clear1 that the opinion maintained by the three friends cannot stand4 ,it is not true that joy and wealth are the rewards of virtuous life4 ,it is not always the case that the evil-doer is overcome by temporal disaster4 ,it is true that to good and bad alike death is appointed1 and together they lie down in the dust4 ,it is true that even then the good man's grave may be forsaken in the desert1 while the impious may have a stately sepulchre4 ,a new way is made for human thought in the exposure of the old illusions and the opening up of the facts of existence4 ,hebrew religion has a fresh point of departure1 a clearer view of the nature and end of all things4 ,the thought of the world receives a spiritual germ2 there is a making ready for ,him who said1 ,a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth1 and ,what doth it profit a man to gain the whole world1 and forfeit his life8 ,when we know what the earthly cannot do for us we are prepared for the gospel of the spiritual and for the living word4 ,,footnotes3 #c ,emerson1 ,essay ,,iii4 ,compensation4 #d ,bushnell1 ,moral ,uses of ,dark ,things4 ,,the ,,third ,,colloquy4 ,,xix4 ,,dogmatic ,,and ,,moral ,,error4 ,,eliphaz ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 xxii4 ,the second colloquy has practically exhausted the subject of debate between ,job and his friends4 ,the three have really nothing more to say in the way of argument or awful example4 ,it is only ,eliphaz who tries to clinch the matter by directly accusing ,job of base and cowardly offences4 ,bildad recites what may be called a short ode1 and ,zophar1 if he speaks at all1 simply repeats himself as one determined if possible to have the last word4 ,and why this third round8 ,while it has definite marks of its own and the closing speeches of ,job are important as exhibiting his state of mind1 another motive seems to be required4 ,and the following may be suggested4 ,a last indignity offered1 last words of hard judgment spoken1 ,job enters upon a long review of his life1 with the sense of being victorious in argument1 yet with sorrow rather than exultation because his prayers are still unanswered2 and during all this time the appearance of the ,almighty is deferred4 ,the impression of protracted delay deepens through the two hundred and twenty sentences of the third colloquy in which1 one may say1 all the resources of poetry are exhausted4 ,a tragic sense of the silence ,god keeps is felt to hang over the drama1 as it hangs over human life4 ,a man vainly strives to repel the calumnies that almost break his heart4 ,his accusers advance from innuendo to insolence4 ,he seeks in the way of earnest thought escape from their false reasoning2 he appeals from men to ,god1 from ,god in nature and providence to ,god in supreme and glorious righteousness behind the veil of sense and time4 ,unheard apparently by the ,almighty1 he goes back upon his life and rehearses the proofs of his purity1 generosity1 and faith2 but the shadow remains4 ,it is the trial of human patience and the evidence that neither a man's judgment of his own life nor the judgment expressed by other men can be final4 ,god must decide1 and for ,his decision men must wait4 ,the author has felt in his own history this delay of heavenly judgment1 and he brings it out in his drama4 ,he has also seen that on this side death there can be no final reading of the judgment of ,god on a human life4 ,we wait for ,god2 ,he comes in a prophetic utterance which all must reverently accept2 yet the declaration is in general terms4 ,when at last the ,almighty speaks from the storm the righteous man and his accusers alike have to acknowledge ignorance and error2 there is an end of self-defence and of condemnation by men1 but no absolute determination of the controversy4 ,the vision is for the appointed time1 and it hasteth toward the end1 and shall not lie3 though it tarry1 wait for it2 because it will surely come1 it will not delay4 ,behold1 his soul is puffed up1 it is not upright in him3 but the just shall live by his faith 7,hab4 ii4 #c1 #d74 99 99 99 99 99 ,eliphaz begins with a singular question1 which he is moved to state by the whole tenor of ,job's reasoning and particularly by his hope that ,god would become his ,redeemer4 ,can a man be profitable unto ,god8 ,not quite knowing what he asks1 meaning simply to check the boldness of ,job's hope1 he advances to the brink of an abyss of doubt4 ,you ,job1 he seems to say1 a mere mortal creature1 afflicted enough surely to know your own insignificance1 how can you build yourself up in the notion that ,god is interested in your righteousness8 ,you think ,god believes in you and will justify you4 ,how ignorant you must be if you really suppose your goodness of any consequence to the ,almighty1 if you imagine that by making your ways perfect1 that is1 claiming an integrity which man cannot possess1 you will render any service to the ,most ,high4 ,man is too small a creature to be of any advantage to ,god4 ,man's respect1 faithfulness1 and devotion are essentially of no profit to ,him4 ,one must say that ,eliphaz opens a question of the greatest interest both in theology or the knowledge of ,god1 and in religion or the right feelings of man toward ,god4 ,if man as the highest energy1 the finest blossoming and most articulate voice of the creation1 is of no consequence to his ,creator1 if it makes no difference to the perfection or complacency of ,god in ,himself whether man serves the end of his being or not1 whether man does or fails to do the right he was made to love2 if it is for man's sake only that the way of life is provided for him and the privilege of prayer given him1--then our glorifying of ,god is not a reality but a mere form of speech4 ,the only conclusion possible would be that even when we serve ,god earnestly in love and sacrifice we are in point of fact serving ourselves4 ,if one wrestles with evil1 clings to the truth1 renounces all for righteousness' sake1 it is well for him4 ,if he is hard-hearted and base1 his life will decay and perish4 ,but1 in either case1 the eternal calm1 the ineffable completeness of the ,divine nature are unaffected4 ,yea1 though all men and all intelligent beings were overwhelmed in eternal ruin the ,creator's glory would remain the same1 like a full-orbed sun shining over a desolate universe4 444,we are such stuff ,as dreams are made of1 and our little life ,is rounded by a sleep4 ,eliphaz thinks it is for man's sake alone ,god has created him1 surrounded him with means of enjoyment and progress1 given him truth and religion1 and laid on him the responsibilities that dignify his existence4 ,but what comes then of the contention that1 because ,job has sinned1 desolation and disease have come to him from the ,almighty8 ,if man's righteousness is of no account to ,god1 why should his transgressions be punished8 ,creating men for their own sake1 a beneficent ,maker would not lay upon them duties the neglect of which through ignorance must needs work their ruin4 ,we know from the opening scenes of the book that the ,almighty took pleasure in ,his servant4 ,we see ,him trying ,job's fidelity for the vindication of ,his own creative power and heavenly grace against the scepticism of such as the ,adversary4 ,is a faithful servant not profitable to one whom he earnestly serves8 ,is it all the same to ,god whether we receive ,his truth or reject ,his covenant8 ,then the urgency of ,christ's redemptive work is a fiction4 ,satan is not only correct in regard to ,job but has stated the sole philosophy of human life4 ,we are to fear and serve ,god for what we get2 and our notions of doing bravely in the great warfare on behalf of ,god's kingdom are the fancies of men who dream4 ,can a man be profitable unto ,god8 ,surely he that is wise is profitable to himself4 ,is it any pleasure to the ,almighty that thou art righteous8 ,or is it gain to ,him that thou makest thy ways perfect8 ,is it for thy fear of ,him that ,he reproveth thee1 ,that ,he entereth with thee into judgment8 ,regarding this what are we to say8 ,that it is false1 an ignorant attempt to exalt ,god at the expense of man1 to depreciate righteousness in the human range for the sake of maintaining the perfection and self-sufficiency of ,god4 ,but the virtues of man1 love1 fidelity1 truth1 purity1 justice1 are not his own4 ,the power of them in human life is a portion of the ,divine energy1 for they are communicated and sustained by the ,divine ,spirit4 ,were the righteousness1 love1 and faith instilled into the human mind to fail of their result1 were they1 instead of growing and yielding fruit1 to decay and die1 it would be waste of ,divine power2 the moral cosmos would be relapsing into a chaotic state4 ,if we affirm that the obedience and redemption of man do not profit the ,most ,high1 then this world and the inhabitants of it have been called into existence by the ,creator in grim jest1 and ,he is simply amusing ,himself with our hazardous game4 ,with the same view of the absolute sovereignty of ,god in creation and providence on which ,eliphaz founds in this passage1 ,jonathan ,edwards sees the necessity of escaping the conclusion to which these verses point4 ,he argues that ,god's delight in the emanations of ,his fulness in the work of creation shows ,his delight in the infinite fulness of good there is in ,himself and the supreme respect and regard ,he has for ,himself4 ,an objector may say1 he proceeds1 ,if it could be supposed that ,god needed anything2 or that the goodness of ,his creatures could extend to ,him2 or that they could be profitable to ,him1 it might be fit that ,god should make ,himself and ,his own interest ,his highest and last end in creating the world4 ,but seeing that ,god is above all need and all capacity of being added to and advanced1 made better and happier in any respect2 to what purpose should ,god make ,himself ,his end1 or seek to advance ,himself in any respect by any of ,his works8 ,the answer is--,god may delight with true and great pleasure in beholding that beauty which is an image and communication of ,his own beauty1 an expression and manifestation of ,his own loveliness4 ,and this is so far from being an instance of ,his happiness not being in and from ,himself1 that it is an evidence that ,he is happy in ,himself1 or delights and has pleasure in ,his own beauty4 ,nor does this argue any dependence of ,god on the creature for happiness4 ,though ,he has real pleasure in the creature's holiness and happiness2 yet this is not properly any pleasure which ,he receives from the creature4 ,for these things are what ,he gives the creature4#e ,here to a certain extent the reasoning is cogent and meets the difficulty of ,eliphaz2 and at present it is not necessary to enter into the other difficulty which has to be faced when the ,divine reprobation of sinful life needs explanation4 ,it is sufficient to say that this is a question even more perplexing to those who hold with ,eliphaz than to those who take the other view4 ,if man for ,god's glory has been allowed a real part in the service of eternal righteousness1 his failure to do the part of which he is capable1 to which he is called1 must involve his condemnation4 ,so far as his will enters into the matter he is rightly held accountable1 and must suffer for neglect4 ,passing to the next part of ,eliphaz's address we find it equally astray for another reason4 ,he asks ,is not thy wickedness great8 and proceeds to recount a list of crimes which appear to have been charged against ,job in the base gossip of ill-doing people4 ,is not thy wickedness great1 ,and no limit to thy iniquities8 ,for thou hast taken pledges of thy brother for nought1 ,and stripped the naked of their clothing4 ,thou hast not given water to the weary1 ,and thou hast withholden bread from the famished4 ,the man of might--his is the earth2 ,and he that is in honour dwelt therein4 ,thou hast sent widows away empty1 ,and the arms of the orphans have been broken4 ,the worst here affirmed against ,job is that he has overborne the righteous claims of widows and orphans4 ,bildad and ,zophar made a mistake in alleging that he had been a robber and a freebooter4 ,yet is it less unfriendly to give ear to the cruel slanders of those who in ,job's day of prosperity had not obtained from him all they desired and are now ready with their complaints8 ,no doubt the offences specified are such as might have been committed by a man in ,job's position and excused as within his right4 ,to take a pledge for debt was no uncommon thing4 ,when water was scarce1 to withhold it even from the weary was no extraordinary baseness4 ,vambry tells us that on the steppes he has seen father and son fighting almost to the death for the dregs of a skin of water4 ,eliphaz1 however1 a good man1 counts it no more than duty to share this necessary of life with any fainting traveller1 even if the wells are dry and the skins are nearly empty4 ,he also makes it a crime to keep back corn in the year of famine4 ,he says truly that the man of might1 doing such things1 acts disgracefully4 ,but there was no proof that ,job had been guilty of this kind of inhumanity1 and the gross perversion of justice to which ,eliphaz condescends recoils on himself4 ,it does not always happen so within our knowledge4 ,pious slander gathered up and retailed frequently succeeds4 ,an ,eliphaz endeavours to make good his opinion by showing providence to be for it2 he keeps the ear open to any report that will confirm what is already believed2 and the circulating of such a report may destroy the usefulness of a life1 the usefulness which is denied4 ,take a broader view of the same controversy4 ,is there no exaggeration in the charges thundered sometimes against poor human nature8 ,is it not often thought a pious duty to extort confession of sins men never dreamed of committing1 so that they may be driven to a repentance that shakes life to its centre and almost unhinges the reason8 ,with conviction of error1 unbelief1 and disobedience the new life must begin4 ,yet religion is made unreal by the attempt to force on the conscience and to extort from the lips an acknowledgment of crimes which were never intended and are perhaps far apart from the whole drift of the character4 ,the truthfulness of ,john the ,baptist's preaching was very marked4 ,he did not deal with imaginary sins4 ,and when our ,lord spoke of the duties and errors of men either in discourse or parable1 ,he never exaggerated4 ,the sins ,he condemned were all intelligible to the reason of those addressed1 such as the conscience was bound to own1 must recognise as evil things1 dishonouring to the ,almighty4 ,having declared ,job's imaginary crimes1 ,eliphaz exclaims1 ,therefore snares are round about thee and sudden fear troubleth thee4 ,with the whole weight of assumed moral superiority he bears down upon the sufferer4 ,he takes upon him to interpret providence1 and every word is false4 ,job has clung to ,god as his ,friend4 ,eliphaz denies him the right1 cuts him off as a rebel from the grace of the ,king4 ,truly1 it may be said1 religion is never in greater danger than when it is upheld by hard and ignorant zeal like this4 ,then1 in the passage beginning at the twelfth verse1 the attempt is made to show ,job how he had fallen into the sins he is alleged to have committed4 ,is not ,god in the height of heaven8 ,and behold the cope of the stars how high they are6 ,and thou saidst--,what doth ,god know8 ,can ,he judge through thick darkness8 ,thick clouds are a covering to ,him that ,he seeth not2 ,and ,he walketh on the round of heaven4 ,job imagined that ,god whose dwelling-place is beyond the clouds and the stars could not see what he did4 ,to accuse him thus is to pile offence upon injustice1 for the knowledge of ,god has been his continual desire4 ,finally1 before ,eliphaz ends the accusation1 he identifies ,job's frame of mind with the proud indifference of those whom the deluge swept away4 ,job had talked of the prosperity and happiness of men who had not ,god in all their thoughts4 ,was he forgetting that dreadful calamity8 ,wilt thou keep the old way ,which wicked men have trodden8 ,who were snatched away before their time1 ,whose foundation was poured out as a stream3 ,who said to ,god1 ,depart from us2 ,and what can the ,almighty do unto us8 ,yet ,he filled their houses with good things3 ,but the counsel of the wicked is far from me6 ,one who chose to go on in the way of transgressors would share their fate2 and in the day of his disaster as of theirs the righteous should be glad and the innocent break into scornful laughter4 ,so ,eliphaz closes1 finding it difficult to make out his case1 yet bound as he supposes to do his utmost for religion by showing the law of the vengeance of ,god4 ,and1 this done1 he pleads and promises once more in the finest passage that falls from his lips3-- ,acquaint now thyself with ,him and be at peace3 ,thereby good shall come unto thee4 ,receive1 ,i pray thee1 instruction from ,his mouth1 ,and lay up ,his words in thy heart4 ,if thou return to ,shaddai1 thou shalt be built up2 ,if thou put iniquity far from thy tents3 ,and lay thy treasure in the dust1 ,and among the stones of the streams the gold of ,ophir2 ,then shall ,shaddai be thy treasure ,and silver in plenty unto thee4 ,at last there seems to be a strain of spirituality4 ,acquaint now thyself with ,god and be at peace4 ,reconciliation by faith and obedience is the theme4 ,eliphaz is ignorant of much2 yet the greatness and majesty of ,god1 the supreme power which must be propitiated occupy his thoughts1 and he does what he can to lead his friend out of the storm into a harbour of safety4 ,though even in this strophe there mingles a taint of sinister reflection1 it is yet far in advance of anything ,job has received in the way of consolation4 ,admirable in itself is the picture of the restoration of a reconciled life from which unrighteousness is put far away4 ,he seems indeed to have learned something at last from ,job4 ,now he speaks of one who in his desire for the favour and friendship of the ,most ,high sacrifices earthly treasure1 flings away silver and gold as worthless4 ,no doubt it is ill-gotten wealth to which he refers1 treasure that has a curse upon it4 ,nevertheless one is happy to find him separating so clearly between earthly riches and heavenly treasure1 advising the sacrifice of the lower for what is infinitely higher4 ,there is even yet hope of ,eliphaz1 that he may come to have a spiritual vision of the favour and friendship of the ,almighty4 ,in all he says here by way of promise there is not a word of renewed temporal prosperity4 ,returning to ,shaddai in obedience ,job will pray and have his prayer answered4 ,vows he has made in the time of trouble shall be redeemed1 for the desired aid shall come4 ,beyond this there shall be1 in the daily life1 a strength1 decision1 and freedom previously unknown4 ,thou shalt decree a thing1 and it shall be established unto thee4 ,the man who is at length in the right way of life1 with ,god for his ally1 shall form his plans and be able to carry them out4 ,when they cast down1 thou shalt say1 ,uplifting6 ,and the humble person ,he shall save4 ,he will deliver the man not innocent2 ,yea he shall be delivered through the cleanness of thine hands4 ,true1 in the future experience of ,job there may be disappointment and trouble4 ,eliphaz cannot but see that the ill-will of the rabble may continue long1 and perhaps he is doubtful of the temper of his own friends4 ,but ,god will help ,his servant who returns to humble obedience4 ,and having been himself tried ,job will intercede for those in distress1 perhaps on account of their sin1 and his intercession will prevail with ,god4 ,put aside the thought that all this is said to ,job1 and it is surely a counsel of wisdom4 ,to the proud and self-righteous it shows the way of renewal4 ,away with the treasures1 the lust of the eyes1 the pride of life1 that keep the soul from its salvation4 ,let the ,divine love be precious to thee and the ,divine statutes thy joy4 ,power to deal with life1 to overcome difficulties1 to serve thy generation shall then be thine4 ,standing securely in ,god's grace thou shalt help the weary and heavy laden4 ,yet ,eliphaz cannot give the secret of spiritual peace4 ,he does not really know the trouble at the heart of human life4 ,we need for our ,guide ,one who has borne the burden of a sorrow which had nothing to do with the loss of worldly treasure but with the unrest perpetually gnawing at the heart of humanity1 who bore our sin in ,his own body unto the tree and led captivity captive4 ,what the old world could not know is made clear to eyes that have seen the cross against the falling night and a risen ,christ in the fresh ,easter morning4 ,,footnote3 #e ,jonathan ,edwards1 ,dissertation concerning the ,end for which ,god created the ,world1 ,section ,,iv4 ,,xx4 ,,where ,,is ,,eloah8 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 xxiii41 xxiv4 ,the obscure couplet with which ,job begins appears to involve some reference to his whole condition alike of body and mind4 ,again1 to-day1 my plaint1 my rebellion6 ,the hand upon me is heavier than my groanings4 ,i must speak of my trouble and you will count it rebellion4 ,yet1 if ,i moan and sigh1 my pain and weariness are more than excuse4 ,the crisis of faith is with him1 a protracted misery1 and hope hangs trembling in the balance4 ,the false accusations of ,eliphaz are in his mind2 but they provoke only a feeling of weary discontent4 ,what men say does not trouble him much4 ,he is troubled because of that which ,god refuses to do or say4 ,many indeed are the afflictions of the righteous4 ,but every case like his own obscures the providence of ,god4 ,job does not entirely deny the contention of his friends that unless suffering comes as a punishment of sin there is no reason for it4 ,hence1 even though he maintains with strong conviction that the good are often poor and afflicted while the wicked prosper1 yet he does not thereby clear up the matter4 ,he must admit to himself that he is condemned by the events of life4 ,and against the testimony of outward circumstance he makes appeal in the audience chamber of the ,king4 ,has the ,most ,high forgotten to be righteous for a time8 ,when the generous and true are brought into sore straits1 is the great ,friend of truth neglecting ,his task as ,governor of the world8 ,that would indeed plunge life into profound darkness4 ,and it seems to be even so4 ,job seeks deliverance from this mystery which has emerged in his own experience4 ,he would lay his cause before ,him who alone can explain4 ,oh that ,i knew where ,i might find ,him1 ,that ,i might come even to ,his seat6 ,i would order my cause before ,him1 ,and fill my mouth with arguments4 ,i would know the words which ,he would answer me1 ,and understand what ,he would say unto me4 ,present to ,job's mind here is the thought that he is under condemnation1 and along with this the conviction that his trial is not over4 ,it is natural that his mind should hover between these ideas1 holding strongly to the hope that judgment1 if already passed1 will be revised when the facts are fully known4 ,now this course of thought is altogether in the darkness4 ,but what are the principles unknown to ,job1 through ignorance of which he has to languish in doubt8 ,partly1 as we long ago saw1 the explanation lies in the use of trial and affliction as the means of deepening spiritual life4 ,they give gravity and therewith the possibility of power to our existence4 ,even yet ,job has not realised that one always kept in the primrose path1 untouched by the keen air of misfortune1 although he had1 to begin1 a pious disposition and a blameless record1 would be worth little in the end to ,god or to mankind4 ,and the necessity for the discipline of affliction and disappointment1 even as it explains the smaller troubles1 explains also the greatest4 ,let ill be heaped on ill1 disaster on disaster1 disease on bereavement1 misery on sorrow1 while stage by stage the life goes down into deeper circles of gloom and pain1 it may acquire1 it will acquire1 if faith and faithfulness towards ,god remain1 massiveness1 strength and dignity for the highest spiritual service4 ,but there is another principle1 not yet considered1 which enters into the problem and still more lightens up the valley of experience which to ,job appeared so dark4 ,the poem touches the fringe of this principle again and again1 but never states it4 ,the author saw that men were born to trouble4 ,he made ,job suffer more because he had his integrity to maintain than if he had been guilty of transgressions by acknowledging which he might have pacified his friends4 ,the burden lay heavily upon ,job because he was a conscientious man1 a true man1 and could not accept any make-believe in religion4 ,but just where another step would have carried him into the light of blessed acquiescence in the will of ,god1 the power failed1 he could not advance4 ,perhaps the genuineness and simplicity of his character would have been impaired if he had thought of it1 and we like him better because he did not4 ,the truth1 however1 is that ,job was suffering for others1 that he was1 by the grace of ,god1 a martyr1 and so far forth in the spirit and position of that suffering ,servant of ,jehovah of whom we read in the prophecies of ,isaiah4 ,the righteous sufferers1 the martyrs1 what are they8 ,always the vanguard of humanity4 ,where they go and the prints of their bleeding feet are left1 there is the way of improvement1 of civilisation1 of religion4 ,the most successful man1 preacher or journalist or statesman1 is popularly supposed to be leading the world in the right path4 ,where the crowd goes shouting after him1 is that not the way of advance8 ,do not believe it4 ,look for a teacher1 a journalist1 a statesman who is not so successful as he might be1 because he will1 at all hazards1 be true4 ,the ,christian world does not yet know the best in life1 thought and morality for the best4 ,he who sacrifices position and esteem to righteousness1 he who will not bow down to the great idol at the sound of sackbut and psaltery1 observe where that man is going1 try to understand what he has in his mind4 ,those who under defeat or neglect remain steadfast in faith have the secrets we need to know4 ,to the ranks even of the afflicted and broken the author of ,job turned for an example of witness-bearing to high ideas and the faith in ,god which brings salvation4 ,but he wrought in the shadow1 and his hero is unconscious of his high calling4 ,had ,job seen the principles of ,divine providence which made him a helper of human faith1 we should not now hear him cry for an opportunity of pleading his cause before ,god4 ,would ,he contend with me in ,his mighty power8 ,nay1 but ,he would give heed to me4 ,then an upright man would reason with ,him2 ,so should ,i get free for ever from my ,judge4 ,it is in a sense startling to hear this confident expectation of acquittal at the bar of ,god4 ,the common notion is that the only part possible to man in his natural state is to fear the judgment to come and dread the hour that shall bring him to the ,divine tribunal4 ,from the ordinary point of view the language of ,job here is dangerous1 if not profane4 ,he longs to meet the ,judge2 he believes that he could so state his case that the ,judge would listen and be convinced4 ,the ,almighty would not contend with him any longer as his powerful antagonist1 but would pronounce him innocent and set him at liberty for ever4 ,can mortal man vindicate himself before the bar of the ,most ,high8 ,is not every one condemned by the law of nature and of conscience1 much more by ,him who knoweth all things8 ,and yet this man who believes he would be acquitted by the great ,king has already been declared perfect and upright1 one that feareth ,god and escheweth evil4 ,take the declaration of the ,almighty ,himself in the opening scenes of the book1 and ,job is found what he claims to be4 ,under the influence of that ,divine grace which the sincere and upright may enjoy he has been a faithful servant and has earned the approbation of his ,judge4 ,it is by faith he is made righteous4 ,religion and love of the ,divine law have been his guides2 he has followed them2 and what one has done may not others do8 ,our book is concerned not so much with the corruption of human nature1 as with the vindication of the grace of ,god given to human nature4 ,corrupt and vile as humanity often is1 imperfect and spiritually ignorant as it always is1 the writer of this book is not engaged with that view4 ,he directs attention to the virtuous and honourable elements and shows ,god's new creation in which ,he may take delight4 ,we shall indeed find that after the ,almighty has spoken out of the storm1 ,job says1 ,i repudiate my words and repent in dust and ashes4 ,so he appears to come at last to the confession which1 from one point of view1 he ought to have made at the first4 ,but those words of penitence imply no acknowledgment of iniquity after all4 ,they are confession of ignorant judgment4 ,job admits with sorrow that he has ventured too far in his attempt to understand the ways of the ,almighty1 that he has spoken without knowledge of the universal providence he had vainly sought to fathom4 ,the author's intention plainly is to justify ,job in his desire for the opportunity of pleading his cause1 that is1 to justify the claim of the human reason to comprehend4 ,it is not an offence to him that much of the ,divine working is profoundly difficult to interpret4 ,he acknowledges in humility that ,god is greater than man1 that there are secrets with the ,almighty which the human mind cannot penetrate4 ,but so far as suffering and sorrow are appointed to a man and enter into his life1 he is considered to have the right of inquiry regarding them1 an inherent claim on ,god to explain them4 ,this may be held the error of the author which he himself has to confess when he comes to the ,divine interlocution4 ,there he seems to allow the majesty of the ,omnipotent to silence the questions of human reason4 ,but this is really a confession that his own knowledge does not suffice1 that he shares the ignorance of ,job as well as his cry for light4 ,the universe is vaster than he or any of the ,old ,testament age could even imagine4 ,the destinies of man form part of a ,divine order extending through the immeasurable spaces and the developments of eternal ages4 99 99 99 99 99 ,once more ,job perceives or seems to perceive that access to the presence of the ,judge is denied4 ,the sense of condemnation shuts him in like prison walls and he finds no way to the audience chamber4 ,the bright sun moves calmly from east to west2 the gleaming stars1 the cold moon in their turn glide silently over the vault of heaven4 ,is not ,god on high8 ,yet man sees no form1 hears no sound4 ,speak to ,him thou1 for ,he hears1 and spirit with spirit can meet2 ,closer is ,he than breathing1 and nearer than hands and feet4 ,but ,job is not able to conceive a spiritual presence without shape or voice4 ,behold1 ,i go forward1 but ,he is not there2 ,and backward1 but ,i cannot perceive ,him3 ,on the left hand where ,he doth work1 but ,i behold ,him not3 ,he hideth ,himself on the right hand that ,i cannot see ,him4 ,nature1 thou hast taught this man by thy light and thy darkness1 thy glorious sun and thy storms1 the clear-shining after rain1 the sprouting corn and the clusters of the vine1 by the power of man's will and the daring love and justice of man's heart4 ,in all thou hast been a revealer4 ,but thou hidest whom thou dost reveal4 ,to cover in thought the multiplicity of thy energies in earth and sky and sea1 in fowl and brute and man1 in storm and sunshine1 in reason1 in imagination1 in will and love and hope2--to attach these one by one to the idea of a ,being almighty1 infinite1 eternal1 and so to conceive this ,god of the universe--it is1 we may say1 a superhuman task4 ,job breaks down in the effort to realise the great ,god4 ,i look behind me1 into the past4 ,there are the footprints of ,eloah when ,he passed by4 ,in the silence an echo of ,his step may be heard2 but ,god is not there4 ,on the right hand1 away beyond the hills that shut in the horizon1 on the left hand where the way leads to ,damascus and the distant north--not there can ,i see ,his form2 nor out yonder where day breaks in the east4 ,and when ,i travel forward in imagination1 ,i who said that my ,redeemer shall stand upon the earth1 when ,i strive to conceive ,his form1 still1 in utter human incapacity1 ,i fail4 ,verily1 ,thou art a ,god that hidest ,thyself4 ,and yet1 ,job's conviction of his own uprightness1 is it not ,god's witness to his spirit8 ,can he not be content with that8 ,to have such a testimony is to have the very verdict he desires4 ,well does ,boethius1 a writer of the old world though he belonged to the ,christian age1 press beyond ,job where he writes3 ,he is always ,almighty1 because ,he always wills good and never any evil4 ,he is always equally gracious4 ,by ,his ,divine power ,he is everywhere present4 ,the ,eternal and ,almighty always sits on the throne of ,his power4 ,thence ,he is able to see all1 and renders to every one with justice1 according to his works4 ,therefore it is not in vain that we have hope in ,god2 for ,he changes not as we do4 ,but pray ye to ,him humbly1 for ,he is very bountiful and very merciful4 ,hate and fly from evil as ye best may4 ,love virtues and follow them4 ,ye have great need that ye always do well1 for ye always in the presence of the ,eternal and ,almighty ,god do all that ye do4 ,he beholds it all1 and ,he will recompense it all4#f ,amiel1 on the other hand1 would fain apply to ,job a reflection which has occurred to himself in one of the moods that come to a man disappointed1 impatient of his own limitations4 ,in his journal1 under date ,january #bith1 #ahff1 he writes3 ,it is but our secret self-love which is set upon this favour from on high2 such may be our desire1 but such is not the will of ,god4 ,we are to be exercised1 humbled1 tried and tormented to the end4 ,it is our patience which is the touchstone of our virtue4 ,to bear with life even when illusion and hope are gone2 to accept this position of perpetual war1 while at the same time loving only peace2 to stay patiently in the world1 even when it repels us as a place of low company and seems to us a mere arena of bad passions2 to remain faithful to one's own faith without breaking with the followers of false gods2 to make no attempt to escape from the human hospital1 long-suffering and patient as ,job upon his dunghill2--this is duty4#g ,an evil mood prompts ,amiel to write thus4 ,a thousand times rather would one hear him crying like ,job on the great ,judge and ,redeemer and complaining that the ,gol hides ,himself4 ,it is not in bare self-love or self-pity ,job seeks acquittal at the bar of ,god2 but in the defence of conscience1 the spiritual treasure of mankind and our very life4 ,no doubt his own personal justification bulks largely with ,job1 for he has strong individuality4 ,he will not be overborne4 ,he stands at bay against his three friends and the unseen adversary4 ,but he loves integrity1 the virtue1 first2 and for himself he cares as the representative of that which the ,spirit of ,god gives to faithful men4 ,he may cry1 therefore1 he may defend himself1 he may complain2 and ,god will not cast him off4 ,for ,he knoweth the way that ,i take2 ,if ,he tried me1 ,i should come forth as gold4 ,my foot hath held fast to ,his steps1 ,his way have ,i kept1 and not turned aside4 ,i have not gone back from the commandments of ,his lips2 ,i have treasured the words of ,his mouth more than my needful food4 ,bravely1 not in mere vaunt he speaks1 and it is good to hear him still able to make such a claim4 ,why do we not also hold fast to the garment of our ,divine ,friend8 ,why do we not realise and exhibit the resolute godliness that anticipates judgment3 ,if ,he tried me1 ,i should come forth as gold8 ,the psalmists of ,israel stood thus on their faith2 and not in vain1 surely1 has ,christ called us to be like our ,father who is in heaven4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but again from brave affirmation ,job falls back exhausted4 ,oh thou ,hereafter6 on whose shore ,i stand-- ,waiting each toppling moment to engulf me1 ,what am ,i8 ,say thou ,present6 say thou ,past ,ye three wise children of ,eternity6-- ,a life8--,a death8--and an immortal8--,all8 ,is this the threefold mystery of man8 ,the lower1 darker ,trinity of earth8 ,it is vain to ask4 ,nought answers me--not ,god4 ,the air grows thick and dark4 ,the sky comes down4 ,the sun draws round him streaky clouds--like ,god ,gleaning up wrath4 ,hope hath leapt off my heart1 ,like a false sibyl1 fear-smote1 from her seat1 ,and overturned it4#h ,so1 as ,bailey makes his ,festus speak1 might ,job have spoken here4 ,for now it seems to him that to call on ,god is fruitless4 ,eloah is of one mind4 ,his will is steadfast1 immovable4 ,death is in the cup and death will come4 ,on this ,god has determined4 ,nor is it in ,job's case alone so sore a doom is performed by the ,almighty4 ,many such things are with ,him4 ,the waves of trouble roll up from the deep dark sea and go over the head of the sufferer4 ,he lies faint and desolate once more4 ,the light fades1 and with a deep sigh because he ever came to life he shuts his lips4 ,natural religion ends always with a sigh4 ,the sense of ,god found in the order of the universe1 the dim vision of ,god which comes in conscience1 moral life and duty1 in fear and hope and love1 in the longing for justice and truth--these avail much2 but they leave us at the end desiring something they cannot give4 ,the ,unknown ,god whom men ignorantly worshipped had to be revealed by the life and truth and power of the ,man ,christ ,jesus4 ,not without this revelation1 which is above and beyond nature1 can our eager quest end in satisfying knowledge4 ,in ,christ alone the righteousness that justifies1 the love that compassionates1 the wisdom that enlightens are brought into the range of our experience and communicated through reason to faith4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in chap4 xxiv4 there is a development of the reasoning contained in ,job's reply to ,zophar in the second colloquy1 and there is also a closer examination of the nature and results of evil-doing than has yet been attempted4 ,in the course of his acute and careful discrimination ,job allows something to his friends' side of the argument1 but all the more emphasises the series of vivid touches by which the prosperous tyrant is represented4 ,he modifies to some extent his opinion previously expressed that all goes well with the wicked4 ,he finds that certain classes of miscreants do come to confusion1 and he separates these from the others1 at the same time separating himself beyond question from the oppressor on this side and the murderer and adulterer on that4 ,accepting the limits of discussion chosen by the friends he exhausts the matter between himself and them4 ,by the distinctions now made and the choice offered1 ,job arrests personal accusation1 and of that we hear no more4 ,continuing the idea of a ,divine assize which has governed his thought throughout this reply1 ,job asks why it should not be held openly from time to time in the world's history4 ,why are times not set by the ,almighty8 ,and why do not they who know ,him see ,his days8 ,emerson says the world is full of judgment-days2 ,job thinks it is not1 but ought to be4 ,passing from his own desire to have access to the bar of ,god and plead there1 he now thinks of an open court1 a public vindication of ,god's rule4 ,the ,great ,assize is never proclaimed4 ,ages go by2 the ,righteous ,one never appears4 ,all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation4 ,men struggling1 sinning1 suffering1 doubt or deny the existence of a moral ,ruler4 ,they ask1 ,who ever saw this ,god8 ,if ,he exists1 ,he is so separate from the world by ,his own choice that there is no need to consider ,him4 ,in pride or in sorrow men raise the question4 ,but no ,god means no justice1 no truth1 no penetration of the real by the ideal2 and thought cannot rest there4 ,with great vigour and large knowledge of the world the writer makes ,job point out the facts of human violence and crime1 of human condonation and punishment4 ,look at the oppressors and those who cringe under them1 the despots never brought to justice1 but on the contrary growing in power through the fear and misery of their serfs4 ,already we have seen how perilous it is to speak falsely for ,god4 ,now we see1 on the other hand1 that whoever speaks truly of the facts of human experience prepares the way for a true knowledge of ,god4 ,those who have been looking in vain for indications of ,divine justice and grace are to learn that not in deliverance from the poverty and trouble of this world but in some other way they must realise ,god's redemption4 ,the writer of the book is seeking after that kingdom which is not meat and drink nor long life and happiness1 but righteousness and peace and joy in the ,holy ,ghost4 ,observe first1 says ,job1 the base and cruel men who remove landmarks and claim as their own a neighbour's heritage1 who drive into their pastures flocks that are not theirs1 who even take away the one ass of the fatherless and the one ox the widow has for ploughing her scanty fields1 who thus with a high hand overbear all the defenceless people within their reach4 ,zophar had charged ,job with similar crimes1 and no direct reply was given to the accusation4 ,now1 speaking strongly of the iniquity of such deeds1 ,job makes his accusers feel their injustice towards him4 ,there are men who do such things4 ,i have seen them1 wondered at them1 been amazed that they were not struck down by the hand of ,god4 ,my distress is that ,i cannot understand how to reconcile their immunity from punishment with my faith in ,him whom ,i have served and trusted as my ,friend4 ,the next picture1 from the fifth to the eighth verse1 shows in contrast to the tyrant's pride and cruelty the lot of those who suffer at his hands4 ,deprived of their land and their flocks1 herding together in common danger and misery like wild asses1 they have to seek for their food such roots and wild fruits as can be found here and there in the wilderness4 ,half enslaved now by the man who took away their land they are driven to the task of harvesting his fodder and gathering the gleanings of his grapes4 ,naked they lie in the field1 huddling together for warmth1 and out among the hills they are wet with the impetuous rains1 crouching in vain under the ledges of the rock for shelter4 ,worse things too are done1 greater sufferings than these have to be endured4 ,men there are who pluck the fatherless child from the mother's breast1 claiming the poor little life as a pledge4 ,miserable debtors1 faint with hunger1 have to carry the oppressor's sheaves of corn4 ,they have to grind at the oil-presses1 and with never a cluster to slake their thirst tread the grapes in the hot sun4 ,nor is it only in the country cruelties are practised4 ,perhaps in ,egypt the writer has seen what he makes ,job describe1 the misery of city life4 ,in the city the dying groan uncared for1 and the soul of the wounded crieth out4 ,universal are the scenes of social iniquity4 ,the world is full of injustice4 ,and to ,job the sting of it all is that ,god regardeth not the wrong4 ,men talk nowadays as if the penury and distress prevalent in our large towns proved the churches to be unworthy of their name and place4 ,it may be so4 ,if this can be proved1 let it be proved2 and if the institution called ,the ,church cannot justify its existence and its ,christianity where it should do so by freeing the poor from oppression and securing their rights to the weak1 then let it go to the wall4 ,but here is ,job carrying the accusation a stage farther1 carrying it1 with what may appear blasphemous audacity1 to the throne of ,god4 ,he has no church to blame1 for there is no church4 ,or1 he himself represents what church there is4 ,and as a witness for ,god1 what does he find to be his portion8 ,behold him1 where many a servant of ,divine righteousness has been in past times and is now1 down in the depths1 poorest of the poor1 bereaved1 diseased1 scorned1 misunderstood1 hopeless4 ,why is there suffering8 ,why are there many in our cities outcasts of society1 such as society is8 ,job's case is a partial explanation2 and here the church is not to blame4 ,pariahs of society1 we say4 ,if society consists to any great extent of oppressors who are enjoying wealth unjustly gained1 one is not so sure that there is any need to pity those who are excluded from society4 ,am ,i trying to make out that it may be well there are oppressors1 because oppression is not the worst thing for a brave soul8 ,no3 ,i am only using the logic of the ,book of ,job in justifying ,divine providence4 ,the church is criticised and by many in these days condemned as worthless because it is not banishing poverty4 ,perhaps it might be more in the way of duty and more likely to succeed if it sought to banish excessive wealth4 ,are we of the twentieth ,christian century to hold still by the error of ,eliphaz and the rest of ,job's friends8 ,are we to imagine that those whom the gospel blesses it must of necessity enrich1 so that in their turn they may be tempted to act the ,pharisee8 ,let us be sure ,god knows how to govern ,his world4 ,let us not doubt ,his justice because many are very poor who have been guilty of no crimes and many very rich who have been distinguished by no virtues4 ,it is our mistake to think that all would be well if no bitter cries were heard in the midnight streets and every one were secured against penury4 ,while the church is partly to blame for the state of things1 the salvation of society will not be found in any earthly socialism4 ,on that side lies a slough as deep as the other from which it professes to save4 ,the large ,divine justice and humanity which the world needs are those which ,christ alone has taught1 ,christ to whom property was only something to deal with on the way to spiritual good1--humility1 holiness1 love and faith4 ,the emphatic ,these with which verse #ac begins must be taken as referring to the murderer and adulterer immediately to be described4 ,quite distinct from the strong oppressors who maintain themselves in high position are these cowardly miscreants who rebel against the light 7ver4 #ac71 who in the dark dig through houses and know not the light 7ver4 #af71 to whom the morning is as the shadow of death1 whose portion is cursed in the earth4 ,the passage contains ,job's admission that there are vile transgressors of human and ,divine law whose unrighteousness is broken as a tree 7ver4 #bj74 ,without giving up his main contention as to high-handed wickedness prospering in the world he can admit this2 nay1 asserting it he strengthens his position against the arguments of his friends4 ,the murderer who rising towards daybreak waylays and kills the poor and needy for the sake of their scanty belongings1 the adulterer who waits for the twilight1 disguising his face1 and the thief who in the dark digs through the clay wall of a house--these do find the punishment of their treacherous and disgusting crimes in this life4 ,the coward who is guilty of such sin is loathed even by the mother who bore him and has to skulk in by-ways1 familiar with the terrors of the shadow of death1 daring not to turn in the way of the vineyards to enjoy their fruit4 ,the description of these reprobates ends with the twenty-first verse1 and then there is a return to the mighty and the ,divine support they appear to enjoy4 ,the interpretation of verses #ah-ba which makes them either actually in part the work of a popular hand1 or a parody after the popular manner by ,job himself1 has no sufficient ground4 ,to affirm that the passage is introduced ironically and that verse #bb resumes the real history of the murderer1 the adulterer1 and the thief is to neglect the distinction between those who rebel against the light and the mighty who live in the eye of ,god4 ,the natural interpretation is that which makes the whole a serious argument against the creed of the friends4 ,in their eagerness to convict ,job they have failed to distinguish between men whose base crimes bring them under social reprobation and the proud oppressors who prosper through very arrogance4 ,regarding these the fact still holds that apparently they are under the protection of ,heaven4 ,yet ,he sustaineth the mighty by ,his power1 ,they rise up though they despaired of life4 ,he giveth them to be safe1 and they are upheld1 ,and ,his eyes are upon their ways4 ,they rise high3 in a moment they are not2 ,they are brought low1 like all others gathered in1 ,and cut off as the tops of corn4 ,if not--who then will make me a liar1 ,and to nothing bring my speech8 ,is the daring right-defying evil-doer wasted by disease1 preyed upon by terror8 ,not so4 ,when he appears to have been crushed1 suddenly he starts up again in new vigour1 and when he dies1 it is not prematurely but in the ripeness of full age4 ,with this reaffirmation of the mystery of ,god's dealings ,job challenges his friends4 ,they have his final judgment4 ,the victory he gains is that of one who will be true at all hazards4 ,perhaps in the background of his thought is the vision of a redemption not only of his own life but of all those broken by the injustice and cruelty of this earth4 ,,footnotes3 #f ,consolation of ,philosophy1 chap4 xlii4 #g ,mrs4 ,ward's translation1 p4 #aaf4 #h ,festus1 edition #ahfd1 p4 #ejc4 ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,dominion ,,and ,,the ,,brightness4 ,,bildad ,,speaks4 ,,chap4 ,,xxv4 ,the argument of the last chapter proceeded entirely on the general aspect of the question whether the evil are punished in proportion to their crimes4 ,job has met his friends so far as to place them in a great difficulty4 ,they cannot assail him now as a sort of infidel4 ,and yet what he has granted does not yield the main ground4 ,they cannot deny his contrast between the two classes of evil-doers nor refuse to admit that the strong oppressor has a different fate from the mean adulterer or thief4 ,bildad therefore confines himself to two general principles1 that ,god is the supreme administrator of justice and that no man is clean4 ,he will not now affirm that ,job has been a tyrant to the poor4 ,he dares not call him a murderer or a housebreaker4 ,a snare has been laid for him who spoke much of snares1 and seeing it he is on his guard4 ,dominion and fear are with ,him2 ,he maketh peace in ,his high places ,is there any number of ,his armies8 ,and on whom doth not ,his light shine8 ,how then can man be just with ,god8 ,or how can he of woman born be clean8 ,behold1 even the moon hath no brightness1 ,and the stars are not pure in ,his sight4 ,how much less man that is a worm1 ,and the son of man1 the worm6 ,the brief ode has a certain dignity raising it above the level of ,bildad's previous utterances4 ,he desires to show that ,job has been too bold in his criticism of providence4 ,god has sole dominion and claims universal adoration4 ,where ,he dwells in the lofty place of unapproachable glory ,his presence and rule create peace4 ,he is the ,lord of innumerable armies 7the stars and their inhabitants perhaps71 and ,his light fills the breadth of interminable space1 revealing and illuminating every life4 ,upon this assertion of the majesty of ,god is based the idea of ,his holiness4 ,before so great and glorious a ,being how can man be righteous8 ,the universality of ,his power and the brightness of his presence stand in contrast to the narrow range of human energy and the darkness of the human mind4 ,behold1 says ,bildad1 the moon is eclipsed by a glance of the great ,creator and the stars are cast into shadow by ,his effulgence2 and how shall man whose body is of the earth earthy claim any cleanness of soul8 ,he is like the worm2 his kinship is with corruption2 his place is in the dust like the creeping things of which he becomes the prey4 ,the representation of ,god in ,his exaltation and gory has a tone of impressive piety which redeems ,bildad from any suspicion of insolence at this point4 ,he is including himself and his friends among those whose lives appear impure in the sight of ,heaven4 ,he is showing that successfully as ,job may repel the charges brought against him1 there is at all events one general condemnation in which with all men he must allow himself to be involved4 ,is he not a feeble ignorant man whose will being finite must be imperfect8 ,on the one hand is the pious exaltation of ,god1 on the other the pious abasement of man4 ,it is1 however1 easy to see that ,bildad is still bound to a creed of the superficial kind without moral depth or spiritual force4 ,the ideas are those of a nature religion in which the one ,god is a supreme ,baal or ,master1 monopolising all splendour1 ,his purity that of the fire or the light4 ,we are shown the ,lord of the visible universe whose dwelling is in the high heavens1 whose representative is the bright sun from the light of which nothing is hidden4 ,it is easy to point to this splendid apparition and1 contrasting man with the great fire-force1 the perennial fountain of light1 to say--,how dark1 how puny1 how imperfect is man4 ,the brilliance of an ,arabian sky through which the sun marches in unobstructed glory seems in complete contrast to the darkness of human life4 ,yet1 is it fair1 is it competent to argue thus8 ,is anything established as to the moral quality of man because he cannot shine like the sun or even with the lesser light of moon or stars8 ,one may allow a hint of strong thought in the suggestion that boundless majesty and power are necessary to perfect virtue1 that the ,almighty alone can be entirely pure4 ,but ,bildad cannot be said to grasp this idea4 ,if it gleams before his mind1 the faint flash passes unrecognised4 ,he has not wisdom enough to work out such a thought4 ,and it is nature that according to his argument really condemns man4 ,job is bidden look up to the sun and moon and stars and know himself immeasurably less pure than they4 ,but the truth stands untouched that man whose body is doomed to corruption1 man who labours after the right1 with the heat of moral energy in his heart1 moves on a far higher plane as a servant of ,god than any fiery orb which pours its light through boundless space4 ,we find ignorance of man and therefore of his ,maker in ,bildad's speech4 ,he does not understand the dignity of the human mind in its straining after righteousness4 ,with limitless duration1 with boundless space and number without end1 ,nature does at least what she can to translate into visible form the wealth of the creative formula4 ,by the vastness of the abysses into which she penetrates in the effort1 the unsuccessful effort1 to house and contain the eternal thought we may measure the greatness of the ,divine mind4 ,for as soon as this mind goes out of itself and seeks to explain itself1 the effort at utterance heaps universe upon universe during myriads of centuries1 and still it is not expressed and the great oration must go on for ever and ever4 ,the inanimate universe majestic1 ruled by eternal law1 cannot represent the moral qualities of the ,divine mind1 and the attempt to convict a thinking man1 whose soul is bent on truth and purity1 by the splendour of that light which dazzles his eye1 comes to nothing4 ,the commonplaces of pious thought fall stale and flat in a controversy like the present4 ,bildad does not realise wherein the right of man in the universe consists4 ,he is trying in vain to instruct one who sees that moral desire and struggle are the conditions of human greatness1 who will not be overborne by material splendours nor convicted by the accident of death4 ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,outskirts ,,of ,,his ,,ways4 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 xxvi41 xxvii4 ,beginning his reply ,job is full of scorn and sarcasm4 ,how hast thou helped one without power6 ,how hast thou saved the strengthless arm6 ,how hast thou counselled one void of knowledge1 ,and plentifully declared the thing that is known6 ,well indeed hast thou spoken1 ,o man of singular intelligence4 ,i am very weak1 my arm is powerless4 ,what reassurance1 what generous help thou hast provided6 ,i1 doubtless1 know nothing1 and thou hast showered illumination on my darkness4--,his irony is bitter4 ,bildad appears almost contemptible4 ,to whom hast thou uttered words8 ,is it thy mission to instruct me8 ,and whose spirit came forth from thee8 ,dost thou claim ,divine inspiration8 ,job is rancorous2 and we are scarcely intended by the writer to justify him4 ,yet it is galling indeed to hear that calm repetition of the most ordinary ideas when the controversy has been carried into the deep waters of thought4 ,job desired bread and is offered a stone4 ,but since ,bildad has chosen to descant upon the greatness and imperial power of ,god1 the subject shall be continued4 ,he shall be taken into the abyss beneath1 where faith recognises the ,divine presence1 and to the heights above that he may learn how little of the dominion of ,god lies within the range of a mind like his1 or indeed of mortal sense4 ,first there is a vivid glance at that mysterious under-world where the shades or spirits of the departed survive in a dim vague existence4 ,the shades are shaken ,beneath the waters and their inhabitants4 ,sheol is naked before ,him1 ,and ,abaddon hath no covering4 ,bildad has spoken of the lofty place where ,god makes peace4 ,but that same ,god has the sovereignty also of the nether world4 ,under the bed of the ocean and those subterranean waters that flow beneath the solid ground where1 in the impenetrable darkness1 poor shadows of their former selves1 those who lived once on earth congregate age after age--there the power of the ,almighty is revealed4 ,he does not always exert ,his will in order to create tranquility4 ,down in ,sheol the refaim are agitated4 ,and nothing is hid from ,his eye4 ,abaddon1 the devouring abyss1 is naked before ,him4 ,let us distinguish here between the imagery and the underlying thought1 the inspired vision of the writer and the form in which ,job is made to present it4 ,these notions about ,sheol as a dark cavern below earth and ocean to which the spirits of the dead are supposed to descend are the common beliefs of the age4 ,they represent opinion1 not reality4 ,but there is a new flash of inspiration in the thought that ,god reigns over the abode of the dead1 that even if men escape punishment here1 the judgments of the ,almighty may reach them there4 ,this is the writer's prophetic insight into fact2 and he properly assigns the thought to his hero who1 already almost at the point of death1 has been straining as it were to see what lies beyond the gloomy gate4 ,the poetry is infused with the spirit of inquiry into ,god's government of the present and the future4 ,set beside other passages both in the ,old and ,new ,testaments this is found continuous with higher revelations1 even with the testimony of ,christ when ,he says that ,god is ,lord not of the dead but of the living4 ,from ,sheol1 the under-world1 ,job points to the northern heavens ablaze with stars4 ,god1 he says1 stretches that wonderful dome over empty space--the immovable polar star probably appearing to mark the point of suspension4 ,the earth1 again1 hangs in space on nothing1 even this solid earth on which men live and build their cities4 ,the writer is of course ignorant of what modern science teaches1 but he has caught the fact which no modern knowledge can deprive of its marvellous character4 ,then the gathering in immense volumes of watery vapour1 how strange is that1 the filmy clouds holding rains that deluge a continent1 yet not rent asunder4 ,one who is wonderful in counsel must indeed have ordered this universe2 but ,his throne1 the radiant seat of ,his everlasting dominion1 ,he shutteth in with clouds2 it is never seen4 ,a bound ,he hath set on the face of the waters1 ,on the confines of light and darkness4 ,the pillars of heaven tremble ,and are astonished at ,his rebuke4 ,he stilleth the sea with ,his power2 ,and by ,his understanding ,he smites through ,rahab3 ,by ,his breath the heavens are made bright2 ,his hand pierceth the fleeing serpent4 ,lo1 these are the outskirts of ,his ways1 ,and what a whisper is that which we hear of ,him6 ,but the thunder of ,his powers who can apprehend8 ,at the confines of light and darkness ,god sets a boundary1 the visible horizon1 the ocean being supposed to girdle the earth on every side4 ,the pillars of heaven are the mountains1 which might be seen in various directions apparently supporting the sky4 ,with awe men looked upon them1 with greater awe felt them sometimes shaken by mysterious throbs as if at ,god's rebuke4 ,from these the poet passes to the sea1 the great storm waves that roll upon the shore4 ,god smites through ,rahab1 subdues the fierce sea--represented as a raging monster4 ,here1 as in the succeeding verse where the fleeing serpent is spoken of1 reference is made to nature-myths current in the ,east4 ,the old ideas of heathen imagination are used simply in a poetical way4 ,job does not believe in a dragon of the sea1 but it suits him to speak of the stormy ocean-current under this figure so as to give vividness to his picture of ,divine power4 ,god quells the wild waves2 ,his breath as a soft wind clears away the storm clouds and the blue sky is seen again4 ,the hand of ,god pierces the fleeing serpent1 the long track of angry clouds borne swiftly across the face of the heavens4 ,the closing words of the chapter are a testimony to the ,divine greatness1 negative in form yet in effect more eloquent than all the rest4 ,it is but the outskirts of the ways of ,god we see1 a whisper of ,him we hear4 ,the full thunder falls not on our ears4 ,he who sits on the throne which is for ever shrouded in clouds and darkness is the ,creator of the visible universe but always separate from it4 ,he reveals ,himself in what we see and hear1 yet the glory1 the majesty remain concealed4 ,the sun is not ,god1 nor the storm1 nor the clear shining after rain4 ,the writer is still true to the principle of never making nature equal to ,god4 ,even where the religion is in form a nature religion1 separateness is fully maintained4 ,the phenomena of the universe are but faint adumbrations of the ,divine life4 ,bildad may come short of the full clearness of belief1 but ,job has it4 ,the great circle of existence the eye is able to include is but the skirt of that garment by which the ,almighty is seen4 ,the question may be asked1 ,what place has this poetical tribute to the majesty of ,god in the argument of the book8 ,viewed simply as an effort to outdo and correct the utterance of ,bildad the speech is not fully explained4 ,we ask further what is meant to be in ,job's mind at this particular point in the discussion2 whether he is secretly complaining that power and dominion so wide are not manifested in executing justice on earth1 or1 on the other hand1 comforting himself with the thought that judgment will yet return to righteousness and the ,most ,high be proved the ,all-just8 ,the inquiry has special importance because1 looking forward in the book1 we find that when the voice of ,god is heard from the storm it proclaims ,his matchless power and incomparable wisdom4 ,at present it must suffice to say that ,job is now made to come very near his final discovery that complete reliance upon ,eloah is not simply the fate but the privilege of man4 ,fully to understand ,divine providence is impossible1 but it can be seen that ,one who is supreme in power and infinite in wisdom1 responsible always to ,himself for the exercise of ,his power1 should have the complete confidence of ,his creatures4 ,of this truth ,job lays hold2 by strenuous thought he has forced his way almost through the tangled forest1 and he is a type of man at his best on the natural plane4 ,the world waited for the clear light which solves the difficulties of faith4 ,while once and again a flash came before ,christ1 ,he brought the abiding revelation1 the dayspring from on high which giveth light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death4 99 99 99 99 99 ,according to his manner ,job turns now from a subject which may be described as speculative to his own position and experience4 ,the earlier part of chap4 xxvii4 is an earnest declaration in the strain he has always maintained4 ,as vehemently as ever he renews his claim to integrity1 emphasizing it with a solemn adjuration4 ,as ,god liveth who hath taken away my right1 ,and the ,almighty who hath embittered my soul2 7,for still my life is whole in me1 ,and the breath of the ,high ,god in my nostrils71 ,my lips do not speak iniquity1 ,nor does my tongue utter deceit4 ,far be it from me to justify you2 ,till ,i die ,i will not remove my integrity from me4 ,my righteousness ,i hold fast1 and let it not go2 ,my heart reproacheth not any of my days4 ,this is in the old tone of confident self-defence4 ,god has taken away his right1 denied him the outward signs of innocence1 the opportunity of pleading his cause4 ,yet1 as a believer1 he swears by the life of ,god that he is a true man1 a righteous man4 ,whatever betides he will not fall from that conviction and claim4 ,and let no one say that pain has impaired his reason1 that now if never before he is speaking deliriously4 ,no3 his life is whole in him2 ,god-given life is his1 and with the consciousness of it he speaks1 not ignorant of what is a man's duty1 not with a lie in his right hand1 but with absolute sincerity4 ,he will not justify his accusers1 for that would be to deny righteousness1 the very rock which alone is firm beneath his feet4 ,knowing what is a man's obligation to his fellow-men and to ,god he will repeat his self-defence4 ,he goes back upon his past1 he reviews his days4 ,upon none of them can his conscience fix the accusation of deliberate baseness or rebellion against ,god4 ,having affirmed his sincerity ,job proceeds to show what would be the result of deceit and hypocrisy at so solemn a crisis of his life4 ,the underlying idea seems to be that of communion with the ,most ,high1 the spiritual fellowship necessary to man's inner life4 ,he could not speak falsely without separating himself from ,god and therefore from hope4 ,as yet he is not rejected2 the consciousness of truth remains with him1 and through that he is in touch at least with ,eloah4 ,no voice from on high answers him2 yet this ,divine principle of life remains in his soul4 ,shall he renounce it8 ,let mine enemy be as the wicked1 ,and he that riseth against me as the unrighteous4 ,if ,i have aught to do with a wicked man such as ,i am now to describe1 one who would pretend to pure and godly life while he had behaved in impious defiance of righteousness1 if ,i have to do with such a man1 let it be as an enemy4 ,for what is the hope of the godless whom ,he cutteth off1 ,when ,god taketh his soul8 ,will ,god hear his cry ,when trouble cometh upon him8 ,will he delight himself in the ,almighty ,and call upon ,eloah at all times8 ,the topic is access to ,god by prayer1 that sense of security which depends on the ,divine friendship4 ,there comes one moment at least1 there may be many1 in which earthly possessions are seen to be worthless and the help to the ,almighty is alone to any avail4 ,in order to enjoy hope at such a time a man must habitually live with ,god in sincere obedience4 ,the godless man previously described1 the thief1 the adulterer whose whole life is a cowardly lie1 is cut off from the ,almighty4 ,he finds no resource in the ,divine friendship4 ,to call upon ,god always is no privilege of his2 he has lost it by neglect and revolt4 ,job speaks of the case of such a man as in contrast to his own4 ,although his own prayers remain apparently unanswered he has a reserve of faith and hope4 ,before ,god he can still assure himself as the servant of ,his righteousness1 in fellowship with ,him who is eternally true4 ,the address closes with these words of retrospection 7vv4 #aa1 #ab73-- ,i would teach you concerning the hand of ,god1 ,that which is with ,shaddai would ,i not conceal4 ,behold1 all ye yourselves have seen it2 ,why then are ye become altogether vain8 ,at this point begins a passage which creates great difficulty4 ,it is ascribed to ,job1 but is entirely out of harmony with all he has said4 ,may we accept the conjecture that it is the missing third speech of ,zophar1 erroneously incorporated with the parable of ,job8 ,do the contents warrant this departure from the received text8 ,all along ,job's contention has been that though an evil-doer could have no fellowship with ,god1 no joy in ,god1 yet such a man might succeed in his schemes1 amass wealth1 live in glory1 go down to his grave in peace4 ,yea1 he might be laid in a stately tomb and the very clods of the valley might be sweet to him4 ,job has not affirmed this to be always the history of one who defies the ,divine law4 ,but he has said that often it is2 and the deep darkness in which he himself lies is not caused so much by his calamity and disease as by the doubt forced upon him whether the ,most ,high does rule in steadfast justice on this earth4 ,how comes it1 he has cried again and again1 that the wicked prosper and the good are often reduced to poverty and sorrow8 ,now does the passage from the twelfth verse onwards correspond with this strain of thought8 ,it describes the fate of the wicked oppressor in strong language--defeat1 desolation1 terror1 rejection by ,god1 rejection by men4 ,his children are multiplied only for the sword4 ,sons die and widows are left disconsolate4 ,his treasures1 his garments shall not be for his delight2 the innocent shall enjoy his substance4 ,his sudden death shall be in shame and agony1 and men shall clap their hands at him and hiss him out of his place4 ,clearly1 if ,job is the speaker1 he must be giving up all he has hitherto contended for1 admitting that his friends have argued truly1 that after all judgment does fall in this world upon arrogant men4 ,the motive of the whole controversy would be lost if ,job yielded this point4 ,it is not as if the passage ran1 ,this or that may take place1 this or that may befall the evil-doer4 ,eliphaz1 ,bildad1 and ,zophar never present more strongly their own view than that view is presented here4 ,nor can it be said that the writer may be preparing for the confession ,job makes after the ,almighty has spoken from the storm4 ,when he gives way then1 it is only to the extent of withdrawing his doubts of the wisdom and justice of the ,divine rule4 ,the suggestion that ,job is here reciting the statements of his friends cannot be entertained4 ,to read ,why are ye altogether vain1 saying1 ,this is the portion of the wicked man from ,god1 is incompatible with the long and detailed account of the oppressor's overthrow and punishment4 ,there would be no point or force in mere recapitulation without the slightest irony or caricature4 ,the passage is in grim earnest4 ,on the other hand1 to imagine that ,job is modifying his former language is1 as ,dr4 ,a4 ,b4 ,davidson shows1 equally out of the question4 ,with his own sons and daughters lying in their graves1 his own riches dispersed1 would he be likely to say--,if his children be multiplied it is for the sword8 and ,though he heap up silver as the dust1 ,and prepare raiment as the clay2 ,he may prepare it1 but the just shall put it on ,and the innocent shall divide the silver8 ,against supposing this to be ,zophar's third speech the arguments drawn from the brevity of ,bildad's last utterance and the exhaustion of the subjects of debate have little weight1 and there are distinct points of resemblance between the passage under consideration and ,zophar's former addresses4 ,assuming it to be his1 it is seen to begin precisely where he left off2--only he adopts the distinction ,job has pointed out and confines himself now to oppressors4 ,his last speech closed with the sentence3 ,this is the portion of a wicked man from ,god1 and the heritage appointed unto him by ,god4 ,he begins here 7ver4 #ac73 ,this is the portion of a wicked man with ,god1 and the heritage of oppressors which they receive from the ,almighty4 ,again1 without verbal identity1 the expressions ,god shall cast the fierceness of ,his wrath upon him 7chap4 xx4 #bc71 and ,god shall hurl upon him and not spare 7chap4 xxvii4 #ba71 show the same style of representation1 as also do the following3 ,terrors are upon him4444 ,his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath 7chap4 xx4 #be1 #bh71 and ,terrors overtake him like waters 7chap4 xxvii4 #bj74 ,other similarities may be easily traced2 and on the whole it seems by far the best explanation of an otherwise incomprehensible passage to suppose that here ,zophar is holding doggedly to opinions which the other two friends have renounced4 ,job could not have spoken the passage1 and there is no reason for considering it to be an interpolation by a later hand4 ,,xxiii4 ,,choral ,,interlude4 ,,chap4 xxviii4 ,the controversy at length closed1 the poet breaks into a chant of the quest of ,wisdom4 ,it can hardly be supposed to have been uttered or sung by ,job4 ,but if we may go so far as to imagine a chorus after the manner of the ,greek dramas1 this ode would fitly come as a choral descant reflecting on the vain attempts made alike by ,job and by his friends to penetrate the secrets of ,divine providence4 ,how poor and unsatisfying is all that has been said4 ,to fathom the purposes of the ,most ,high1 to trace through the dark shadows and entanglements of human life that unerring righteousness with which all events are ordered and overruled--how far was this above the sagacity of the speakers4 ,now and again true things have been said1 now and again glimpses of that vindication of the good which should compensate for all their sufferings have brightened the controversy4 ,but the reconciliation has not been found4 ,the purposes of the ,most ,high remain untraced4 ,the poet is fully aware of this1 aware even that on the ground of argument he is unable to work out the problem which he has opened4 ,with an undertone of wistful sadness1 remembering passages of his country's poetry that ran in too joyous a strain1 as if wisdom lay within the range of human ken1 he suspends the action of the drama for a little to interpose this cry of limitation and unrest4 ,there is no complaint that ,god keeps in his own hand sublime secrets of ,design4 ,what is man that he should be discontented with his place and power8 ,it is enough for him that the ,great ,god rules in righteous sovereignty1 gives him laws of conduct to be obeyed in reverence1 shows him the evil he is to avoid1 the good he is to follow4 ,the things of ,god knoweth no man1 but the ,spirit of ,god4 ,those who have a world to explore and use1 the ,almighty to adore and trust1 if they must seek after the secret of existence and ever feel themselves baffled in the endeavour1 may still live nobly1 bear patiently1 find blessed life within the limit ,god has set4 ,first the industry of man is depicted1 that search for the hidden things of the earth which is significant alike of the craving and ingenuity of the human mind4 ,surely there is a mine for silver ,and a place for gold which they refine4 ,iron is taken out of the earth1 ,and copper is molten out of the stone4 ,man setteth an end to darkness1 ,and searcheth1 to the furthest bound1 ,the stones of darkness and deathful gloom4 ,he breaks a shaft away from where men dwell2 ,they are forgotten of the foot2 ,afar from men they hang and swing to and fro4 ,the poet has seen1 perhaps in ,iduma or in ,midian where mines of copper and gold were wrought by the ,egyptians1 the various operations here described4 ,digging or quarrying1 driving tunnels horizontally into the hills or sinking shafts in the valleys1 letting themselves down by ropes from the edge of a cliff to reach the vein1 then1 suspended in mid air1 hewing at the ore1 the miners variously ply their craft4 ,away in remote gorges of the hills the pits they have dug remain abandoned1 forgotten4 ,the long winding passages they make seem to track to the utmost limit the stones of darkness1 stones that are black with the richness of the ore4 ,on the earth's surface men till their fields1 but the hidden treasures that lie below are more valuable than the harvest of maize or wheat4 ,as for the earth1 out of it cometh bread2 ,and from beneath it is turned up as by fire4 ,the stones thereof are the place of sapphires1 ,and it hath dust of gold4 ,the reference to fire as an agent in turning up the earth appears to mark a volcanic district1 but sapphires and gold are found either in alluvial soil or associated with gneiss and quartz4 ,perhaps the fire was that used by the miners to split refractory rock4 ,and the cunning of man is seen in this1 that he carries into the very heart of the mountains a path which no vulture or falcon ever saw1 which the proud beasts and fierce lions have not trodden4 ,he puts forth his hand upon the flinty rock1 ,he overturneth mountains by the roots4 ,slowly indeed as compared with modern work of the kind1 yet surely1 where those earnest toilers desired a way1 excavations went on and tunnels were formed with wedge and hammer and pickaxe4 ,the skill of man in providing tools and devising methods1 and his patience and assiduity made him master of the very mountains4 ,and when he had found the ore he could extract its precious metal and gems4 ,he cutteth out channels among the rocks2 ,and his eye seeth every precious thing4 ,he bindeth the streams that they trickle not2 ,and the hidden thing brings he forth to light4 ,for washing his ore when it has been crushed he needs supplies of water1 and to this end makes long aqueducts4 ,in ,iduma a whole range of reservoirs may still be seen1 by means of which even in the dry season the work of gold-washing might be carried on without interruption4 ,no particle of the precious metal escaped the quick eye of the practised miner4 ,and again1 if water began to percolate into his shaft or tunnel1 he had skill to bind the streams that his search might not be hindered4 ,such then is man's skill1 such are his perseverance and success in the quest of things he counts valuable--iron for his tools1 copper to fashion into vessels1 gold and silver to adorn the crowns of kings1 sapphires to gleam upon their raiment4 ,and if in the depths of earth or anywhere the secrets of life could be reached1 men of eager adventurous spirit would sooner or later find them out4 ,it is to be noticed that1 in the account given here of the search after hidden things1 attention is confined to mining operations4 ,and this may appear strange1 the general subject being the quest of wisdom1 that is understanding of the principles and methods by which the ,divine government of the world is carried on4 ,there was in those days a method of research1 widely practised1 to which some allusion might have been expected--the so-called art of astrology4 ,the ,chaldans had for centuries observed the stars1 chronicled their apparent movements1 measured the distances of the planets from each other in their unexplained progress through the constellations4 ,on this survey of the heavens was built up a whole code of rules for predicting events4 ,the stars which culminated at the time of any one's birth1 the planets visible when an undertaking was begun1 were supposed to indicate prosperity or disaster4 ,the author of the ,book of ,job could not be ignorant of this art4 ,why does he not mention it8 ,why does he not point out that by watching the stars man seeks in vain to penetrate ,divine secrets8 ,and the reply would seem to be that keeping absolute silence in regard to astrology he meant to refuse it as a method of inquiry4 ,patient1 eager labour among the rocks and stones is the type of fruitful endeavour4 ,astrology is not in any way useful2 nothing is reached by that method of questioning nature4 ,the poet proceeds3-- ,where shall wisdom be found1 ,and where is the place of understanding8 ,man knoweth not the way thereof1 ,neither is it to be found in the land of the living4 ,the deep saith1 ,it is not in me2 ,and the sea saith1 ,it is not with me4 ,the whole range of the physical cosmos1 whether open to the examination of man or beyond his reach1 is here declared incapable of supplying the clue to that underlying idea by which the course of things is ordered4 ,the land of the living is the surface of the earth which men inhabit4 ,the deep is the under-world4 ,neither there nor in the sea is the great secret to be found4 ,as for its price1 however earnestly men may desire to possess themselves of it1 no treasures are of any use it is not to be bought in any market4 ,never is wisdom got for gold1 ,nor for its price can silver be told4 ,for the gold of ,ophir it may not be won1 ,the onyx rare or the sapphire stone4 ,gold is no measure and glass no hire1 ,jewels of gold twice fined by fire4 ,coral and crystal tell in vain1 ,pearls of the deep for wisdom's gain4 ,topaz of ,cush avails thee nought1 ,nor with gold of glory is it bought4 ,while wisdom is thus of value incommensurate with all else men count precious and rare1 it is equally beyond the reach of all other forms of mundane life4 ,the birds that soar high into the atmosphere see nothing of it1 nor does any creature that wanders far into uninhabitable wilds4 ,abaddon and ,death indeed1 the devouring abyss and that silent world which seems to gather and keep all secrets1 have heard a rumour of it4 ,beyond the range of mortal sense some hint there may be of a ,divine plan governing the mutations of existence1 the fulfilment of which will throw light on the underworld where the spirits of the departed wait in age-long night4 ,but death has no knowledge any more than life4 ,wisdom is ,god's prerogative1 ,his activities are ,his own to order and fulfil4 ,god understandeth the way thereof1 ,and ,he knoweth the place thereof4 ,for ,he looketh to the ends of the earth1 ,and seeth under the whole heaven1 ,making weight for the winds2 ,and ,he meteth out the waters by measure4 ,when ,he made a decree for the rain1 ,and a way for the lightning of thunder1 ,then did ,he see it and number it1 ,he established it1 yea1 and searched it out4 ,the evolution1 as we should say1 of the order of nature gives fixed and visible embodiment to the wisdom of ,god4 ,we must conclude1 therefore1 that the poet indicates the complete idea of the world as a cosmos governed by subtle all-pervading law for moral ends4 ,the creation of the visible universe is assumed to begin1 and with the created before ,him ,god sees its capacities1 determines the use to which its forces are to be put1 the relation all things are to have to each other1 to the life of man and to ,his own glory4 ,but the hokhma or understanding of this remains for ever beyond the discovery of the human intellect4 ,man knoweth not the way thereof4 ,the forces of earth and air and sea and the deep that lieth under do not reveal the secret of their working2 they are but instruments4 ,and the end of all is not to be found in ,sheol1 in the silent world of the dead4 ,god ,himself is the ,alpha and ,omega1 the ,first and the ,last4 ,yet man has his life and his law4 ,though intellectual understanding of his world and destiny may fail however earnestly he pursues the quest1 he should obtain the knowledge that comes by reverence and obedience4 ,he can adore ,god1 he can distinguish good from evil and seek what is right and true4 ,there lies his hokhma1 there1 says the poet1 it must continue to lie4 ,and unto man ,he said1 ,behold the fear of the ,lord1 that is wisdom1 ,and to depart from evil is understanding4 ,the conclusion lays a hush upon man's thought--but leaves it with a doctrine of ,god and faith reaching above the limitations of time and sense4 ,reverence for the ,divine will not fully known1 the pursuit of holiness1 fear of the ,unseen ,god are no agnosticism1 they are the true springs of religious life4 ,,xxiv4 ,,as ,a ,,prince ,,before ,,the ,,king4 ,,job ,,speaks4 ,,chaps4 xxix4-xxxi4 ,from the pain and desolation to which he has become inured as a pitiable second state of existence1 ,job looks back to the years of prosperity and health which in long succession he once enjoyed4 ,this parable or review of the past ends his contention4 ,honour and blessedness are apparently denied him for ever4 ,with what has been he compares his present misery and proceeds to a bold and noble vindication of his character alike from secret and from flagrant sins4 ,in the whole circle of ,job's lamentations this chant is perhaps the most affecting4 ,the language is very beautiful1 in the finest style of the poet1 and the minor cadences of the music are such as many of us can sympathise with4 ,when the years of youth go by and strength wanes1 the ,eden we once dwelt in seems passing fair4 ,of those beyond middle life there are few who do not set their early memories in sharp contrast to the ways they now travel1 looking back to a happy valley and long bright summers that are left behind4 ,and even in opening manhood and womanhood the troubles of life often fall1 as we may think1 prematurely1 coming between the mind and the remembered joy of burdenless existence4 ,how changed are they6--how changed am ,i6 ,the early spring of life is gone1 ,gone is each youthful vanity1-- ,but what with years1 oh what is won8 ,i know not--but while standing now ,where opened first the heart of youth1 ,i recollect how high would glow ,its thoughts of ,glory1 ,faith1 and ,truth-- ,how full it was of good and great1 ,how true to heaven1 how warm to men4 ,alas6 ,i scarce forbear to hate ,the colder breast ,i bring again4 ,first in the years past ,job sees by the light of memory the blessedness he had when the ,almighty was felt to be his preserver and his strength4 ,though now ,god appears to have become an enemy he will not deny that once he had a very different experience4 ,then nature was friendly1 no harm came to him2 he was not afraid of the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor the destruction that wasteth at noon-day1 for the ,almighty was his refuge and fortress4 ,to refuse this tribute of gratitude is far from the mind of ,job1 and the expression of it is a sign that now at length he is come to a better mind4 ,he seems on the way fully to recover his trust4 ,the elements of his former happiness are recounted in detail4 ,god watched over him with constant care1 the lamp of ,divine love shone on high and lighted up the darkness1 so that even in the night he could travel by a way he knew not and feel secure4 ,days of strength and pleasure were those when the secret of ,god1 the sense of intimate fellowship with ,god1 was on his tent1 when his children were about him1 that beautiful band of sons and daughters who were his pride4 ,then his steps were bathed in abundance1 butter provided by innumerable kine1 rivers of oil which seemed to flow from the rock1 where terrace above terrace the olives grew luxuriantly and yielded their fruit without fail4 ,chiefly ,job remembers with gratitude to ,god the esteem in which he was held by all about him4 ,nature was friendly and not less friendly were men4 ,when he went into the city and took his seat in the broad place within the gate1 he was acknowledged chief of the council and court of judgment4 ,the young men withdrew and stood aside1 yea the elders1 already seated in the place of assembly1 stood up to receive him as their superior in position and wisdom4 ,discussion was suspended that he might hear and decide4 ,and the reasons for this respect are given4 ,in the society thus with idyllic touches represented1 two qualities were highly esteemed--regard for the poor and wisdom in counsel4 ,then1 as now1 the problem of poverty caused great concern to the elders of cities4 ,though the population of an ,arabian town could not be great1 there were many widows and fatherless children1 families reduced to beggary by disease or the failure of their poor means of livelihood1 blind and lame persons utterly dependent on charity1 besides wandering strangers and the vagrants of the desert4 ,by his princely munificence to these ,job had earned the gratitude of the whole region4 ,need was met1 poverty relieved1 justice done in every case4 ,he recounts what he did1 not in boastfulness1 but as one who rejoiced in the ability ,god had given him to aid suffering fellow-creatures4 ,those were indeed royal times for the generous-hearted man4 ,full of public spirit1 his ear and hand always open1 giving freely out of his abundance1 he commended himself to the affectionate regard of the whole valley4 ,the ready way of almsgiving was that alone by which relief was provided for the destitute1 and ,job was never appealed to in vain4 ,the ear that heard me blessed me1 ,the eye that saw bare witness to me1 ,because ,i delivered the poor that cried1 ,and the fatherless who had no helper4 ,the blessing of him that was ready to die came upon me1 ,and ,i caused the widow's heart to sing with joy4 ,so far ,job rejoices in the recollection of what he had been able to do for the distressed and needy in those days when the lamp of ,god shone over him4 ,he proceeds to speak of his service as magistrate or judge4 ,i put on righteousness and it indued itself with me1 ,my justice was as a robe and a diadem2 ,i was eyes to the blind1 ,and feet was ,i to the lame4 ,with righteousness in his heart so that all he said and did revealed it and wearing judgment as a turban1 he sat and administered justice among the people4 ,those who had lost their sight and were unable to find the men that had wronged them came to him and he was as eyes to them1 following up every clue to the crime that had been committed4 ,the lame who could not pursue their enemies appealed to him and he took up their cause4 ,the poor1 suffering under oppression1 found him a protector1 a father4 ,yea1 the cause of him that ,i knew not ,i searched out4 ,on behalf of total strangers as well as of neighbours he set in motion the machinery of justice4 ,and ,i brake the jaws of the wicked ,and plucked the spoil from his teeth4 ,none were so formidable1 so daring and lion-like1 but he faced them1 brought them to judgment and compelled them to give up what they had taken by fraud and violence4 ,in those days1 ,job confesses1 he had the dream that as he was prosperous1 powerful1 helpful to others by the grace of ,god1 so he would continue4 ,why should any trouble fall on one who used power conscientiously for his neighbours8 ,would not ,eloah sustain the man who was as a god to others8 ,then ,i said1 ,i shall die in my nest1 ,and ,i shall multiply my days as the ,phnix2 ,my root shall spread out by the waters1 ,and the dew shall be all night on my branch2 ,my glory shall be fresh in me1 ,and my bow shall be renewed in my hand4 ,a fine touch of the dream-life which ran on from year to year1 bright and blessed as if it would flow for ever4 ,death and disaster were far away4 ,he would renew his life like the ,phnix1 attain to the age of the antediluvian fathers1 and have his glory or life strong in him for uncounted years4 ,so illusion flattered him1 the very image he uses pointing to the futility of the hope4 ,the closing strophe of the chapter proceeds with even stronger touch and more abundant colour to represent his dignity4 ,men listened to him and waited4 ,like a refreshing rain upon thirsty ground--and how thirsty the desert could be6--his counsel fell on their ears4 ,he smiled upon them when they had no confidence1 laughed away their trouble1 the light of his countenance never dimmed by their apprehensions4 ,even when all about him were in dismay his hearty hopeful outlook was unclouded4 ,trusting ,god1 he knew his own strength and gave freely of it4 ,i chose out their way1 and sat as a chief1 ,and dwelt as a king in the crowd1 ,as one that comforteth the mourners4 ,looked up to with this great esteem1 acknowledged leader in virtue of his overflowing goodness and cheerfulness1 he seemed to make sunshine for the whole community4 ,such was the past4 ,all that had been1 is gone apparently for ever4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how inexpressibly strange that power so splendid1 mental1 physical and moral strength used in the service of less favoured men should be destroyed by ,eloah6 ,it is like blotting out the sun from heaven and leaving a world in darkness4 ,and most strange of all is the way in which low men assist the ruin that has been wrought4 ,the thirtieth chapter begins with this4 ,job is derided by the miserable and base whose fathers he would have disdained to set with the dogs of his flock4 ,he paints these people1 gaunt with hunger and vice1 herding in the wilderness where alone they are suffered to exist1 plucking mallows or salt-wort among the bushes and digging up the roots of broom for food4 ,men hunted them into the desert1 crying after them as thieves1 and they dwelt in the clefts of the wadies1 in caves and amongst rocks4 ,like wild asses they brayed in the scrub and flung themselves down among the nettles4 ,children they were of fools1 base-born1 men who had dishonoured their humanity and been whipped out of the land4 ,such are they whose song and by-word ,job is now become4 ,these1 even these abhor him and spit in his face4 ,he makes the contrast deep and dreadful as to his own experience and the moral confusion that has followed ,eloah's strange work4 ,for good there is evil1 for light and order there is darkness4 ,does ,god desire this1 ordain it8 ,one is inclined to ask whether the abounding compassion and humaneness of the ,book of ,job fails at this point4 ,these wretched creatures who make their lair like wild beasts among the nettles1 outcasts1 branded as thieves1 a wandering base-born race1 are still men4 ,their fathers may have fallen into the vices of abject poverty4 ,but why should ,job say that he would have disdained to set them with the dogs of his flock8 ,in a previous speech 7chap4 xxiv47 he described victims of oppression who had no covering in the cold and were drenched with the rain of the mountains1 clinging to the rock for shelter2 and of them he spoke gently1 sympathetically4 ,but here he seems to go beyond compassion4 ,perhaps one might say the tone he takes now is pardonable1 or almost pardonable1 because these wretched beings1 whom he may have treated kindly once1 have seized the occasion of his misery and disease to insult him to his face4 ,while the words appear hard1 the uselessness of the pariah may be the main point4 ,yet a little of the pride of birth clings to ,job4 ,in this respect he is not perfect2 here his prosperous life needs a check4 ,the ,almighty must speak to him out of the tempest that he may feel himself and find the blessedness of being little4 ,these outcasts throw off all restraint and behave with disgraceful rudeness in his presence4 ,upon my right hand rise the low brood1 ,they push away my feet1 ,and cast up against me their ways of destruction2 ,they mar my path1 ,and force on my calamity-- ,they who have no helper4 ,they come in as through a wide breach1 ,in the desolation they roll themselves upon me4 ,the various images1 of a besieging army1 of those who wantonly break up paths made with difficulty1 of a breach in the embankment of a river1 are to show that ,job is now accounted one of the meanest1 whom any man may treat with indignity4 ,he was once the idol of the populace2 now none so poor to do him reverence4 ,and this persecution by base men is only a sign of deeper abasement4 ,as a horde of terrors sent by ,god he feels the reproaches and sorrows of his state4 ,terrors are turned upon me2 ,they chase away mine honour as the wind1 ,and my welfare passeth as a cloud4 ,and now my soul is poured out in me ,the days of affliction have taken hold upon me4 ,thought shifts naturally to the awful disease which has caused his body to swell and to become black as with dust and ashes4 ,and this leads him to his final vehement complaint against ,eloah4 ,how can ,he so abase and destroy ,his servant8 ,i cry unto ,thee and ,thou dost not hear me2 ,i stand up1 and ,thou lookest at me4 ,thou art turned to be cruel unto me3 ,with the might of ,thine hand ,thou persecutest me4 ,thou liftest me up to the wind1 ,thou causest me to ride on it2 ,and ,thou dissolvest me in the storm4 ,for ,i know that ,thou wilt bring me to death1 ,and to the house appointed for all living4 ,yet in overthrow doth not one stretch out his hand8 ,in destruction1 doth he not because of this utter a cry8 ,standing up in his wretchedness he is fully visible to the ,divine eye1 still no prayer moves ,eloah the terrible from ,his purpose4 ,it seems to be finally appointed that in dishonour ,job shall die4 ,yet1 destined to this fate1 his hope a mockery1 shall he not stretch out his hand1 cry aloud as life falls to the grave in ruin8 ,how differently is ,god treating him from the way in which he treated those who were in trouble6 ,he is asking in vain that pity which he himself had often shown4 ,why should this be8 ,how can it be1 and ,eloah remain the ,just and ,living ,one8 ,pained without and within1 unable to refrain from crying out when people gather about him1 a brother to jackals whose howlings are heard all night1 a companion to the grieving ostrich1 his bones burned by raging fever1 his harp turned to wailing and his lute into the voice of them that weep1 he can scarce believe himself the same man that once walked in honour and gladness in the sight of earth and heaven4 ,thus the full measure of complaint is again poured out1 unchecked by thought that dignity of life comes more with suffering patiently endured than with pleasure4 ,job does not know that out of trouble like his a man may rise more human1 more noble1 his harp furnished with new strings of deeper feeling1 a finer light of sympathy shining in his soul4 ,consistently1 throughout1 the author keeps this thought in the background1 showing hopeless sorrow1 affliction1 unrelieved by any sense of spiritual gain1 pressing with heaviest and most weary weight upon a good man's life4 ,the only help ,job has is the consciousness of virtue1 and that does not check his complaint4 ,the antinomies of life1 the past as compared with the present1 ,divine favour exchanged for cruel persecution1 well-doing followed by most grievous pain and dishonour1 are to stand at the last full in view4 ,then ,he who has justice in ,his keeping shall appear4 ,god ,himself shall declare and claim ,his supremacy and ,his design4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this purpose of the author achieved1 the last passage of ,job's address--chap4 xxxi4--rings bold and clear like the chant of a victor1 not serene indeed in the presence of death1 for this is not the ,hebrew temper and cannot be ascribed by the writer to his hero1 yet with firm ground beneath his feet1 a clear conscience of truth lighting up his soul4 ,the language is that of an innocent man before his accusers and his judge1 yea of a prince in presence of the ,king4 ,out of the darkness into which he has been cast by false arguments and accusations1 out of the trouble into which his own doubt has brought him1 ,job seems to rise with a new sense of moral strength and even of restored physical power4 ,no more in reckless challenge of heaven and earth to do their worst1 but with a fine strain of earnest desire to be clear with men and ,god1 he takes up and denies one by one every possible charge of secret and open sin4 ,is the language he uses more emphatic than any man has a right to employ8 ,if he speaks the truth1 why should his words be thought too bold8 ,the ,almighty ,judge desires no man falsely to accuse himself1 will have no man leave an unfounded suspicion resting upon his character4 ,it is not evangelical meekness to plead guilty to sins never committed4 ,job feels it part of his integrity to maintain his integrity2 and here he vindicates himself not in general terms but in detail1 with a decision which cannot be mistaken4 ,afterwards1 when the ,almighty has spoken1 he acknowledges the ignorance and error which have entered into his judgment1 making the confession we must all make even after years of faith4 ,i4 ,from the taint of lustful and base desire he first clears himself4 ,he has been pure in life1 innocent even of wandering looks which might have drawn him into uncleanness4 ,he has made a covenant with his eyes and kept it4 ,sin of this kind1 he knew1 always brings retribution1 and no indulgence of his ever caused sorrow and dishonour4 ,regarding the particular form of evil in question he asks3-- ,for what is the portion from ,god above1 ,and the heritage of the ,almighty from on high8 ,is it not calamity to the unrighteous1 ,and disaster to them that work iniquity8 ,grouped along with this lust of the flesh is the lust of the eyes1 covetous desire4 ,the itching palm to which money clings1 false dealing for the sake of gain1 crafty intrigues for the acquisition of a plot of ground or some animal--such things were far from him4 ,he claims to be weighed in a strict balance1 and pledges himself that as to this he will not be found wanting4 ,so thoroughly is he occupied with this defence that he speaks as if still able to sow a crop and look for the harvest4 ,he would expect to have the produce snatched from his hand if the vanity of greed and getting had led him astray4 ,returning then to the more offensive suspicion that he had laid wait treacherously at his neighbour's door1 he uses the most vigorous words to show at once his detestation of such offence and the result he believes it always to have4 ,it is an enormity1 a nefarious thing to be punished by the judges4 ,more than that1 it is a fire that consumes to ,abaddon1 wasting a man's strength and substance so that they are swallowed as by the devouring abyss4 ,as to this1 ,job's reading of life is perfectly sound4 ,wherever society exists at all1 custom and justice are made to bear as heavily as possible on those who invade the foundation of society and the rights of other men4 ,yet the keenness with which immorality of the particular kind is watched fans the flame of lust4 ,nature appears to be engaged against itself2 it may be charged with the offence1 it certainly joins in bringing the punishment4 ,,ii4 ,another possible imputation was that as a master or employer he had been harsh to his underlings4 ,common enough it was for those in power to treat their dependants with cruelty4 ,servants were often slaves2 their rights as men and women were denied4 ,regarding this1 the words put into the mouth of ,job are finely humane1 even prophetic3-- ,if ,i despised the cause of my man-servant or maid ,when they contended with me 444 ,what then shall ,i do when ,god riseth up8 ,and when ,he visiteth what shall ,i answer ,him8 ,did not ,he that made me in the womb make him8 ,and did not ,one fashion us in the womb8 ,the rights of those who toiled for him were sacred1 not as created by any human law which for so many hours' service might compel so much stipulated hire1 but as conferred by ,god4 ,job's servants were men and women with an indefeasible claim to just and considerate treatment4 ,it was accidental1 so to speak1 that ,job was rich and they poor1 that he was master and they under him4 ,their bodies were fashioned like his1 their minds had the same capacity of thought1 of emotion1 of pleasure and pain4 ,at this point there is no hardness of tone or pride of birth and place4 ,these are well-doing people to whom as head of the clan ,job stands in place of a father4 ,and his principle1 to treat them as their inheritance of the same life from the same ,creator gave them a right to be dealt with1 is prophetic1 setting forth the duties of all who have power to those who toil for them4 ,men are often used like beasts of burden4 ,no tyranny on earth is so hateful as many employers1 driving on their huge concerns at the utmost speed1 dare to exercise through representatives or underlings4 ,the simple patriarchal life which brought employer and employed into direct personal relations knew little of the antagonism of class interests and the bitterness of feeling which often menaces revolution4 ,none of this will cease till simplicity be resumed and the customs which keep men in touch with each other1 even though they fail to acknowledge themselves members of the one family of ,god4 ,when the servant who has done his best is1 after years of exhausting labour1 dismissed without a hearing by some subordinate set there to consider what are called the interests of the employer--is the latter free from blame8 ,the question of ,job1 ,what then shall ,i do when ,god riseth up1 and when ,he visiteth what shall ,i answer ,him8 strikes a note of equity and brotherliness many so-called ,christians seem never to have heard4 ,,iii4 ,to the poor1 the widow1 the fatherless1 the perishing1 ,job next refers4 ,beyond the circle of his own servants there were needy persons whom he had been charged with neglecting and even oppressing4 ,he has already made ample defence under this head4 ,if he has lifted his hand against the fatherless1 having good reason to presume that the judges would be on his side--then may his shoulder fall from the shoulder-blade and his arm from the collar-bone4 ,calamity from ,god was a terror to ,job1 and recognising the glorious authority which enforces the law of brotherly help he could not have lived in proud enjoyment and selfish contempt4 ,,iv4 ,next he repudiates the idolatry of wealth and the sin of adoring the creature instead of the ,creator4 ,rich as he was1 he can affirm that he never thought too much of his wealth1 nor secretly vaunted himself in what he had gathered4 ,his fields brought forth plentifully1 but he never said to his soul1 ,thou hast much goods laid up for many years1 take thine ease1 eat1 drink1 and be merry4 ,he was but a steward1 holding all at the will of ,god4 ,not as if abundance of possessions could give him any real worth1 but with constant gratitude to his ,divine ,friend1 he used the world as not abusing it4 ,and for his religion3 true to those spiritual ideas which raised him far above superstition and idolatry1 even when the rising sun seemed to claim homage as a fit emblem of the unseen ,creator1 or when the full moon shining in a clear sky seemed a very goddess of purity and peace1 he had never1 as others were wont to do1 carried his hand to his lips4 ,he had seen the worship of ,baal and ,ishtar1 and there might have come to him1 as to whole nations1 the impulses of wonder1 of delight1 of religious reverence4 ,but he can fearlessly say that he never yielded to the temptation to adore anything in heaven or earth4 ,it would have been to deny ,eloah the ,supreme4 ,dr4 ,davidson reminds us here of a legend embodied in the ,koran for the purpose of impressing the lesson that worship should be paid to the ,lord of all creatures1 whose shall be the kingdom on the day whereon the trumpet shall be sounded4 ,the ,almighty says3 ,thus did ,we show unto ,abraham the kingdom of heaven and earth1 that he might become of those who firmly believe4 ,and when the night overshadowed him he saw a star1 and he said1 ,this is my ,lord2 but when it set he said1 ,i like not those that set4 ,and when he saw the moon rising he said1 ,this is my ,lord2 but when he saw it set he said1 ,verily1 if my ,lord direct me not1 ,i shall become one of the people who go astray4 ,and when he saw the rising sun he said1 ,this is my ,lord2 this is the greatest2 but when it set he said1 ,o my people1 verily ,i am clear of that which ye associate with ,god2 ,i direct my face unto ,him who hath created the heavens and the earth4 ,thus from very early times to that of ,mohammed monotheism was in conflict with the form of idolatry that naturally allured the inhabitants of ,arabia4 ,job confesses the attraction1 denies the sin4 ,he speaks as if the laws of his people were strongly against sun-worship1 whatever might be done elsewhere4 ,v4 ,he proceeds to declare that he has never rejoiced over a fallen enemy nor sought the life of any one with a curse4 ,he distinguishes himself very sharply from those who in the common ,oriental way dealt curses without great provocation1 and those even who kept them for deadly enemies4 ,so far was this rancorous spirit from him that friends and enemies alike were welcome to his hospitality and help4 ,verse #ca means that his servants could boast of being unable to find a single stranger who had not sat at his table4 ,their business was to furnish it every day with guests4 ,nor will ,job allow that after the manner of men he skilfully covered transgressions4 ,if1 guilty of some base thing1 ,i concealed it1 as men often do1 because ,i was afraid of losing caste1 afraid lest the great families would despise me4444 ,such a thought or fear never presented itself to him4 ,he could not thus have lived a double life4 ,all had been above-board1 in the clear light of day1 ruled by one law4 ,in connection with this it is that he comes with princely appeal to the ,king4 ,oh that ,i had one to hear me6-- ,behold my signature--let the ,almighty answer me4 ,and oh that ,i had my ,opponents charge6 ,surely ,i would carry it on my shoulder1 ,i would bind it unto me as a crown4 ,i would declare unto ,him the number of my steps1 ,as a prince would ,i go near unto ,him4 ,the words are to be defended only on the ground that the ,eloah to whom a challenge is here addressed is ,god misunderstood1 ,god charged falsely with making unfounded accusations against ,his servant and punishing him as a criminal4 ,the ,almighty has not been doing so4 ,the vicious reasoning of the friends1 the mistaken creed of the age make it appear as if ,he had4 ,men say to ,job1 ,you suffer because ,god has found evil in you4 ,he is requiting you according to your iniquity4 ,they maintain that for no other reason could calamities have come upon him4 ,so ,god is made to appear as the man's adversary2 and ,job is forced to the demonstration that he has been unjustly condemned4 ,behold my signature1 he says3 ,i state my innocence2 ,i set to my mark2 ,i stand by my claim3 ,i can do nothing else4 ,let the ,almighty prove me at fault4 ,god1 you say1 has a book in which ,his charges against me are written out4 ,i wish ,i had that book6 ,i would fasten it upon my shoulder as a badge of honour2 yea1 ,i would wear it as a crown4 ,i would show ,eloah all ,i have done1 every step ,i have taken through life by day and night4 ,i would evade nothing4 ,in the assurance of integrity ,i would go to the ,king2 as a prince ,i would stand in ,his presence4 ,there face to face with ,him whom ,i know to be just and righteous ,i would justify myself as ,his servant1 faithful in ,his house4 ,is it audacity1 impiety8 ,the writer of the book does not mean it to be so understood4 ,there is not the slightest hint that he gives up his hero4 ,every claim made is true4 ,yet there is ignorance of ,god1 and that ignorance puts ,job in fault so far4 ,he does not know ,god's action though he knows his own4 ,he ought to reason from the misunderstanding of himself and see that he may fail to understand ,eloah4 ,when he begins to see this he will believe that his sufferings have complete justification in the purpose of the ,most ,high4 ,the ignorance of ,job represents the ignorance of the old world4 ,notwithstanding the tenor of his prologue the writer is without a theory of human affliction applicable to every case1 or even to the experience of ,job4 ,he can only say and repeat1 ,god is supremely wise and righteous1 and for the glory of ,his wisdom and righteousness ,he ordains all that befalls men4 ,the problem is not solved till we see ,christ1 the ,captain of our salvation1 made perfect by suffering1 and know that our earthly affliction which is for the moment worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory4 ,the last verses of the chapter may seem out of place4 ,job speaks as a landowner who has not encroached on the fields of others but honestly acquired his estate1 and as a farmer who has tilled it well4 ,this seems a trifling matter compared with others that have been considered4 ,yet1 as a kind of afterthought1 completing the review of his life1 the detail is natural4 ,if my land cry out against me1 ,and the furrows thereof weep together1 ,if ,i have eaten the fruits thereof without money1 ,or have caused the owners to lose their life3 ,let thistles grow instead of wheat ,and cockle instead of barley4 ,the words of ,job are ended4 ,a farmer of the right kind would have great shame if poor crops or wet furrows cried against him1 or if he could otherwise be accused of treating the land ill4 ,the touch is realistic and forcible4 ,still it is plain at the close that the character of ,job is idealised4 ,much may be received as matter of veritable history2 but on the whole the life is too fine1 pure1 saintly for even an extraordinary man4 ,the picture is clearly typical4 ,and it is so for the best reason4 ,an actual life would not have set the problem fully in view4 ,the writer's aim is to rouse thought by throwing the contradictions of human experience so vividly upon a prepared canvas that all may see4 ,why do the righteous suffer8 ,what does the ,almighty mean8 ,the urgent questions of the race are made as insistent as art and passion1 ideal truth and sincerity1 can make them4 ,job lying in the grime of misery yet claiming his innocence as a prince before the ,eternal ,king1 demands on behalf of humanity the vindication of providence1 the meaning of the world scheme4 ,,elihu ,,intervenes4 ,,xxv4 ,,post-,,exilic ,,wisdom4 ,,chaps4 xxxii4-xxxiv4 ,a personage hitherto unnamed in the course of the drama now assumes the place of critic and judge between ,job and his friends4 ,elihu1 son of ,barachel the ,buzite1 of the family of ,ram1 appears suddenly and as suddenly disappears4 ,the implication is that he has been present during the whole of the colloquies1 and that1 having patiently waited his time1 he expresses the judgment he has slowly formed on arguments to which he has given close attention4 ,it is significant that both ,elihu and his representations are ignored in the winding up of the action4 ,the address of the ,almighty from the storm does not take him into account and seems to follow directly on the close of ,job's defence4 ,it is a very obvious criticism1 therefore1 that the long discourse of ,elihu may be an interpolation or an afterthought--a fresh attempt by the author or by some later writer to correct errors into which ,job and his friends are supposed to have fallen and to throw new light on the matter of discussion4 ,the textual indications are all in favour of this view4 ,the style of the language appears to belong to a later time than the other parts of the book4 ,but to reject the address as unworthy of a place in the poem would be too summary4 ,elihu indeed assumes the air of the superior person from the first1 so that one is not engaged in his favour4 ,yet there is an honest1 reverent and thoughtful contribution to the subject4 ,in some points this speaker comes nearer the truth than ,job or any of his friends1 although the address as a whole is beneath the rest of the book in respect of matter and argument1 and still more in poetical feeling and expression4 ,it is suggested by ,m4 ,renan that the original author1 taking up his work again after a long interval1 at a period in his life when he had lost his verve and his style1 may have added this fragment with the idea of completing the poem4 ,there are strong reasons against such an explanation4 ,for one thing there seems to be a misconception where1 at the outset1 ,elihu is made to assume that ,job and his friends are very old4 ,the earlier part of the poem by no means affirms this4 ,job1 though we call him a patriarch1 was not necessarily far advanced in life1 and ,zophar appears considerably younger4 ,again the contention in the eighth verse--,there is a spirit in man1 and the breath of the ,almighty giveth them understanding--seems to be the justification a later writer would think it needful to introduce4 ,he acknowledges the ,divine gift of the original poet and adding his criticism claims for ,elihu1 that is1 for himself1 the lucidity ,god bestows on every calm and reverent student of ,his ways4 ,this is considerably different from anything we find in the addresses of the other speakers4 ,it seems to show that the question of inspiration had arisen and passed through some discussion4 ,but the rest of the book is written without any consciousness1 or at all events any admission of such a question4 ,elihu appears to represent the new wisdom which came to ,hebrew thinkers in the period of the exile2 and there are certain opinions embodied in his address which must have been formed during an exile that brought many ,jews to honour4 ,the reading of affliction given is one following the discovery that the general sinfulness of a nation may entail chastisement on men who have not personally been guilty of great sin1 yet are sharers in the common neglect of religion and pride of heart1 and further that this chastisement may be the means of great profit to those who suffer4 ,it would be harsh to say the tone is that of a mind which has caught the trick of voluntary humility1 of pietistic self-abasement4 ,yet there are traces of such a tendency1 the beginning of a religious strain opposed to legal self-righteousness1 running1 however1 very readily to excess and formalism4 ,elihu1 accordingly1 appears to stand on the verge of a descent from the robust moral vigour of the original author towards that low ground in which false views of man's nature hinder the free activity of faith4 ,the note struck by the ,book of ,job had stirred eager thought in the time of the exile4 ,just as in the ,middle ,ages of ,european history the ,divine ,comedy of ,dante was made a special study1 and chairs were founded in universities for its exposition1 so less formally the drama of ,job was made the subject of inquiry and speculation4 ,we suppose then that among the many who wrote on the poem1 one acting for a circle of thinkers incorporated their views in the text4 ,he could not do so otherwise than by bringing a new speaker on the stage4 ,to add anything to what ,eliphaz or ,bildad or ,job had said would have prevented the free expression of new opinion4 ,nor could he without disrespect have inserted the criticism after the words of ,jehovah4 ,selecting as the only proper point of interpolation the close of the debate between ,job and the friends1 the scribe introduced the ,elihu portion as a review of the whole scope of the book1 and may indeed have subtly intended to assail as entirely heterodox the presupposition of ,job's integrity and the ,almighty's approval of his servant4 ,that being his purpose1 he had to veil it in order to keep the discourse of ,elihu in line with the place assigned to him in the dramatic movement4 ,the contents of the prologue and epilogue and the utterance of the ,almighty from the storm affect1 throughout1 the added discourse4 ,but to secure the unity of the poem the writer makes ,elihu speak like one occupying the same ground as ,eliphaz and the others1 that of a thinker ignorant of the original motive of the drama2 and this is accomplished with no small skill4 ,the assumption is that reverent thought may throw new light1 far more light than the original author possessed1 on the case as it stood during the colloquies4 ,elihu avoids assailing the conception of the prologue that ,job is a perfect and upright man approved by ,god4 ,he takes the state of the sufferer as he finds it1 and inquires how and why it is1 what is the remedy4 ,there are pedantries and obscurities in the discourse1 yet the author must not be denied the merit of a careful and successful attempt to adapt his character to the place he occupies in the drama4 ,beyond this1 and the admission that something additional is said on the subject of ,divine discipline1 it is needless to go in justifying ,elihu's appearance4 ,one can only remark with wonder in passing that ,elihu should ever have been declared the ,angel ,jehovah1 or a personification of the ,son of ,god4 ,the narrative verses which introduce the new speaker state that his wrath was kindled against ,job because he justified himself rather than ,god1 and against the three friends because they had condemned ,job and yet found no answer to his arguments4 ,the mood is that of a critic rather hot1 somewhat too confident that he knows1 beginning a task that requires much penetration and wisdom4 ,but the opening sentences of the speech of ,elihu betray the need the writer felt to justify himself in making his bold venture4 ,i am young and ye are very old2 ,wherefore ,i held back and durst not show my knowledge4 ,i thought1 ,days should speak1 ,and the multitude of years teach wisdom4 ,still1 there is a spirit in man1 ,and the breath of the ,almighty giveth them understanding4 ,not the great in years are wise1 ,nor do the aged understand what is right4 ,therefore ,i say3 ,hearken to me2 ,i also will show my opinion4 ,these verses are a defence of the new writer's boldness in adding to a poem that has come down from a previous age4 ,he is confident in his judgment1 yet realises the necessity of commending it to the hearers4 ,he claims that inspiration which belongs to every reverent conscientious inquirer4 ,on this footing he affirms a right to express his opinion1 and the right cannot be denied4 ,elihu has been disappointed with the speeches of ,job's friends4 ,he has listened for their reasons1 observed how they cast about for arguments and theories2 but no one said anything convincing4 ,it is an offence to this speaker that men who had so good a case against their friend made so little of it4 ,the intelligence of ,elihu is therefore from the first committed to the hypothesis that ,job is in the wrong4 ,obviously the writer places his spokesman in a position which the epilogue condemns2 and if we assume this to have been deliberately done a subtle verdict against the scope of the poem must have been intended4 ,may it not be surmised that this implied comment or criticism gave the interpolated discourse value in the eyes of many8 ,originally the poem appeared somewhat dangerous1 out of the line of orthodoxy4 ,it may have become more acceptable to ,hebrew thought when this caveat against bold assumptions of human perfectibility and the right of man in presence of his ,maker had been incorporated with the text4 ,elihu tells the friends that they are not to say1 ,we have found wisdom in ,job1 unexpected wisdom which the ,almighty alone is able to vanquish4 ,they are not to excuse themselves nor exaggerate the difficulties of the situation by entertaining such an opinion4 ,elihu is confident that he can overcome ,job in reasoning4 ,as if speaking to himself he describes the perplexity of the friends and states his intention4 ,they were amazed1 they answered no more2 ,they had not a word to say4 ,and shall ,i wait because they speak not1 ,because they stand still and answer no more8 ,i also will answer my part1 ,i also will show my opinion4 ,his convictions become stronger and more urgent4 ,he must open his lips and answer4 ,and he will use no flattery4 ,neither the age nor the greatness of the men he is addressing shall keep him from speaking his mind4 ,if he were insincere he would bring on himself the judgment of ,god4 ,my ,maker would soon take me away4 ,here again the second writer's self-defence colours the words put into ,elihu's mouth4 ,reverence for the genius of the poet whose work he is supplementing does not prevent a greater reverence for his own views4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the general exordium closes with the thirty-second chapter1 and in the thirty-third ,elihu1 addressing ,job by name1 enters on a new vindication of his right to intervene4 ,his claim is still that of straightforwardness1 sincerity4 ,he is to express what he knows without any other motive than to throw light on the matter in hand4 ,he feels himself1 moreover1 to be guided by the ,divine ,spirit4 ,the breath of the ,almighty has given him life2 and on this ground he considers himself entitled to enter the discussion and ask of ,job what answer he can give4 ,this is done with dramatic feeling4 ,the life he enjoys is not only physical vigour as contrasted with ,job's diseased and infirm state1 but also intellectual strength1 the power of ,god-given reason4 ,yet1 as if he might seem to claim too much1 he hastens to explain that he is quite on ,job's level nevertheless4 ,behold1 ,i am before ,god even as thou art2 ,i also am formed out of the clay4 ,lo1 my terror shall not make thee afraid1 ,neither shall my pressure be heavy upon thee4 ,elihu is no great personage1 no heaven-sent prophet whose oracles must be received without question4 ,he is not terrible like ,god1 but a man formed out of the clay4 ,the dramatising appears overdone at this point1 and can only be explained by the desire of the writer to keep on good terms with those who already reverenced the original poet and regarded his work as sacred4 ,what is now to be said to ,job is spoken with knowledge and conviction1 yet without pretension to more than the wisdom of the holy4 ,there is1 however1 a covert attack on the original author as having made too much of the terror of the ,almighty1 the constant pain and anxiety that bore down ,job's spirit4 ,no excuse of the kind is to be allowed for the failure of ,job to justify himself4 ,he did not because he could not4 ,the fact was1 according to this critic1 that ,job had no right of self-defence as perfect and upright1 without fault before the ,most ,high4 ,no man possessed or could acquire such integrity4 ,and all the attempts of the earlier dramatist to put arguments and defences into his hero's mouth had of necessity failed4 ,the new writer comprehends very well the purpose of his predecessor and intends to subvert it4 ,the formal indictment opens thus3-- ,surely thou hast spoken in my hearing ,and ,i have heard thy words3-- ,i am clean without transgression2 ,i am innocent1 neither is there iniquity in me4 ,behold1 ,he findeth occasions against me1 ,he counteth me for ,his enemy2 ,he putteth me in the stocks1 ,he marketh all my paths4 ,the claim of righteousness1 the explanation of his troubles given by ,job that ,god made occasions against him and without cause treated him as an enemy1 are the errors on which ,elihu fastens4 ,they are the errors of the original writer4 ,no one endeavouring to represent the feelings and language of a servant of ,god should have placed him in the position of making so false a claim1 so base a charge against ,eloah4 ,such criticism is not to be set aside as either incompetent or over bold4 ,but the critic has to justify his opinion1 and1 like many others1 when he comes to give reasons his weakness discloses itself4 ,he is certainly hampered by the necessity of keeping within dramatic lines4 ,elihu must appear and speak as one who stood beside ,job with the same veil between him and the ,divine throne4 ,and perhaps for this reason the effort of the dramatist comes short of the occasion4 ,it is to be noted that attention is fixed on isolated expressions which fell from ,job's lips1 that there is no endeavour to set forth fully the attitude of the sufferer towards the ,almighty4 ,eliphaz1 ,bildad1 and ,zophar had made ,job an offender for a word and ,elihu follows them4 ,we anticipate that his criticism1 however telling it may be1 will miss the true point1 the heart of the question4 ,he will possibly establish some things against ,job1 but they will not prove him to have failed as a brave seeker after truth and ,god4 ,opposing the claim and complaint he has quoted1 ,elihu advances in the first instance a proposition which has the air of a truism--,god is greater than man4 ,he does not try to prove that even though a man has appeared to himself righteous he may really be sinful in the sight of the ,almighty1 or that ,god has the right to afflict an innocent person in order to bring about some great and holy design4 ,the contention is that a man should suffer and be silent4 ,god is not to be questioned2 ,his providence is not to be challenged4 ,a man1 however he may have lived1 is not to doubt that there is good reason for his misery if he is miserable4 ,he is to let stroke after stroke fall and utter no complaint4 ,and yet ,job had erred in saying1 ,god giveth not account of any of ,his matters4 ,it is not true1 says ,elihu1 that the ,divine ,king holds ,himself entirely aloof from the inquiries and prayers of ,his subjects4 ,he discloses in more than one way both ,his purposes and ,his grace4 ,why dost thou contend against ,god ,that ,he giveth not account of any of ,his matters8 ,for ,god speaketh once1 yea twice1 ,yet man perceiveth it not4 ,the first way in which1 according to ,elihu1 ,god speaks to men is by a dream1 a vision of the night2 and the second way is by the chastisement of pain4 ,now as to the first of these1 the dream or vision1 ,elihu had1 of course1 the testimony of almost universal belief1 and also of some cases that passed ordinary experience4 ,scriptural examples1 such as the dreams of ,jacob1 of ,joseph1 of ,pharaoh1 and the prophetic visions already recognised by all pious ,hebrews1 were no doubt in the writer's mind4 ,yet if it is implied that ,job might have learned the will of ,god from dreams1 or that this was a method of ,divine communication for which any man might look1 the rule laid down was at least perilous4 ,visions are not always from ,god4 ,a dream may come by the multitude of business4 ,it is true1 as ,elihu says1 that one who is bent on some proud and dangerous course may be more himself in a dream than in his waking hours4 ,he may see a picture of the future which scares him1 and so he may be deterred from his purpose4 ,yet the waking thoughts of a man1 if he is sincere and conscientious1 are far more fitted to guide him1 as a rule1 than his dreams4 ,passing to the second method of ,divine communication1 ,elihu appears to be on safer ground4 ,he describes the case of an afflicted man brought to extremity by disease1 whose soul draweth near to the grave and his life to the destroyers or death-angels4 ,such suffering and weakness do not of themselves insure knowledge of ,god's will1 but they prepare the sufferer to be instructed4 ,and for his deliverance an interpreter is required4 ,if there be with him an angel1 ,an interpreter1 one among a thousand1 ,to show unto man what is his duty2 ,then ,he is gracious unto him and saith1 ,deliver him from going down to the pit1 ,i have found a ransom4 ,elihu cannot say that such an angel or interpreter will certainly appear4 ,he may3 and if he does and points the way of uprightness1 and that way is followed1 then the result is redemption1 deliverance1 renewed prosperity4 ,but who is this angel8 ,one of the ministering spirits sent forth to do service on behalf of the heirs of salvation8 ,the explanation is somewhat far-fetched4 ,the ministering angels were not restricted in number4 ,each ,hebrew was supposed to have two such guardians4 ,then ,malachi says1 ,the priest's lips should keep knowledge1 and they should seek the law at his mouth2 for he is the angel 7messenger7 of ,jehovah ,sebaoth4 ,here the priest appears as an angel-interpreter1 and the passage seems to throw light on ,elihu's meaning4 ,as no explicit mention is made of a priest or any priestly function in our text1 it may at least be hinted that interpreters of the law1 scribes or incipient rabbis are intended1 of whom ,elihu claims to be one4 ,in this case the ransom would remain without explanation4 ,but if we take that as a sacrificial offering1 the name angel-interpreter covers a reference to the properly accredited priest4 ,the passage is so obscure that little can be based upon it2 yet assuming the ,elihu discourses to be of late origin and intended to bring the poem into line with orthodox ,hebrew thought the introduction of either priest or scribe would be in harmony with such a purpose4 ,mediation at all events is declared to be necessary as between the sufferer and ,god2 and it would be strange indeed if ,elihu1 professing to explain matters1 really made ,divine grace to be consequent on the intervention of an angel whose presence and instruction could in no way be verified4 ,elihu is realistic and would not rest his case at any point on what might be declared purely imaginary4 ,the promise he virtually makes to ,job is like those of ,eliphaz and the others1--renewed health1 restored youth1 the sense of ,divine favour4 ,enjoying these1 the forgiven penitent sings before men1 acknowledging his fault and praising ,god for his redemption4 ,the assurance of deliverance was probably made in view of the epilogue1 with ,job's confession and the prosperity restored to him4 ,but the writer misunderstands the confession1 and promises too glibly4 ,it is good to receive after great affliction the guidance of a wise interpreter2 and to seek ,god again in humility is certainly a man's duty4 ,but would submission and the forgiveness of ,god bring results in the physical sphere1 health1 renewed youth and felicity8 ,no invariable nexus of cause and effect can be established here from experience of the dealings of ,god with men4 ,elihu's account of the way in which the ,almighty communicates with ,his creatures must be declared a failure4 ,it is in some respects careful and ingenious1 yet it has no sufficient ground of evidence4 ,when he says-- ,lo1 all these things worketh ,god ,oftentimes with man1 ,to bring back his soul from the pit-- the design is pious1 but the great question of the book is not touched4 ,the righteous suffer like the wicked from disease1 bereavement1 disappointment1 anxiety4 ,even when their integrity is vindicated the lost years and early vigour are not restored4 ,it is useless to deal in the way of pure fancy with the troubles of existence4 ,we say to ,elihu and all his school1 ,let us be at the truth1 let us know the absolute reality4 ,there are valleys of human sorrow1 suffering1 and trial in which the shadows grow deeper as the traveller presses on1 where the best are often most afflicted4 ,we need another interpreter than ,elihu1 one who suffers like us and is made perfect by suffering1 through it entering into ,his glory4 99 99 99 99 99 ,an invocation addressed by ,elihu to the bystanders begins chap4 xxxiv4 ,again he emphatically asserts his right to speak1 his claim to be a guide of those who think on the ways of ,god4 ,he appeals to sound reason and he takes his auditors into counsel--,let us choose to ourselves judgment2 let us know among ourselves what is good4 ,the proposal is that there shall be conference on the subject of ,job's claim4 ,but ,elihu alone speaks4 ,it is he who selects what is good4 ,certain words that fell from the lips of ,job are again his text4 ,job hath said1 ,i am righteous1 ,i am in the right2 and1 ,god hath taken away my judgment or vindication4 ,when those words were used the meaning of ,job was that the circumstances in which he had been placed1 the troubles appointed by ,god seemed to prove him a transgressor4 ,but was he to rest under a charge he knew to be untrue8 ,stricken with an incurable wound though he had not transgressed1 was he to be against his right by remaining silent8 ,this1 says ,elihu1 is ,job's unfounded impious indictment of the ,almighty2 and he asks3-- ,what man is like ,job1 ,who drinketh up impiety like water1 ,who goeth in company with the workers of iniquity1 ,and walketh with wicked men8 ,job had spoken of his right which ,god had taken away4 ,what was his right8 ,was he1 as he affirmed1 without transgression8 ,on the contrary1 his principles were irreligious4 ,there was infidelity beneath his apparent piety4 ,elihu will prove that so far from being clear of blame he has been imbibing wrong opinions and joining the company of the wicked4 ,this attack shows the temper of the writer4 ,no doubt certain expressions put into the mouth of ,job by the original dramatist might be taken as impeaching the goodness or the justice of ,god4 ,but to assert that even the most unguarded passages of the book made for impiety was a great mistake4 ,faith in ,god is to be traced not obscurely but as a shaft of light through all the speeches put into the mouth of his hero by the poet4 ,one whose mind is bound by certain pious forms of thought may fail to see the light1 but it shines nevertheless4 ,the attempt made by ,elihu to establish his charge has an appearance of success4 ,job1 he says1 is one who drinks up impiety like water and walks with wicked men1-- ,for he hath said1 ,it profiteth a man nothing ,that he should delight himself with ,god4 ,if this were true1 ,job would indeed be proved irreligious4 ,such a statement strikes at the root of faith and obedience4 ,but is ,elihu representing the text with anything like precision8 ,in chap4 ix4 #bb these words are put into ,job's mouth3-- ,it is all one1 therefore ,i say1 ,he destroyeth the perfect and the wicked4 ,god is strong and is breaking him with a tempest4 ,job finds it useless to defend himself and maintain that he is perfect4 ,in the midst of the storm he is so tossed that he despises his life2 and in perplexity he cries1--,it is all one whether ,i am righteous or not1 ,god destroys the good and the vile alike4 ,again we find him saying1 ,wherefore do the wicked live1 become old1 yea1 are mighty in power8 ,and in another passage he inquires why the ,almighty does not appoint days of judgment4 ,these are the expressions on which ,elihu founds his charge1 but the precise words attributed to ,job were never used by him1 and in many places he both said and implied that the favour of ,god was his greatest joy4 ,the second author is either misapprehending or perverting the language of his predecessor4 ,his argument accordingly does not succeed4 ,passing at present from the charge of impiety1 ,elihu takes up the suggestion that ,divine providence is unjust and sets himself to show that1 whether men delight themselves in the ,almighty or not1 ,he is certainly ,all-righteous4 ,and in this contention1 so long as he keeps to generalities and does not take special account of the case which has roused the whole controversy1 he speaks with some power4 ,his argument comes properly to this1 ,if you ascribe injustice or partiality to ,him whom you call ,god1 you cannot be thinking of the ,divine ,king4 ,from ,his very nature and from ,his position as ,lord of all1 ,god cannot be unjust4 ,as ,maker and ,preserver of life ,he must be faithful4 ,far be from ,god a wickedness1 ,from the ,almighty an injustice6 ,for every one's work ,he requiteth him1 ,and causeth each to find according to his ways4 ,surely1 too1 ,god doeth not wickedness1 ,the ,almighty perverteth not justice4 ,has ,god any motive for being unjust8 ,can any one urge ,him to what is against ,his nature8 ,the thing is impossible4 ,so far ,elihu has all with him1 for all alike believe in the sovereignty of ,god4 ,the ,most ,high1 responsible to ,himself1 must be conceived of as perfectly just4 ,but would ,he be so if ,he were to destroy the whole of ,his creatures8 ,elihu says1 ,god's sovereignty over all gives ,him the right to act according to ,his will2 and ,his will determines not only what is1 but what is right in every case4 ,who hath given ,him a charge over the earth8 ,or who hath disposed the whole world8 ,were ,he to set ,his mind upon ,himself1 ,to gather to ,himself ,his spirit and ,his breath1 ,then all flesh would die together1 ,man would return to his dust4 ,the life of all creatures implies that the mind of the ,creator goes forth to ,his universe1 to rule it1 to supply the needs of all living beings4 ,he is not wrapped up in ,himself1 but having given life ,he provides for its maintenance4 ,another personal appeal in verse #af is meant to secure attention to what follows1 in which the idea is carried out that the ,creator must rule ,his creatures by a law of justice4 ,shall one that hateth right be able to control8 ,or wilt thou condemn the ,just1 the ,mighty ,one8 ,is it fit to say to a king1 ,thou wicked8 ,or to princes1 ,ye ungodly8 ,how much less to ,him who accepts not the persons of princes1 ,nor regardeth the rich more than the poor8 ,here the principle is good1 the argument or illustration inconclusive4 ,there is a strong foundation in the thought that ,god1 who could if ,he desired withdraw all life1 but on the other hand sustains it1 must rule according to a law of perfect righteousness4 ,if this principle were kept in the front and followed up we should have a fruitful argument4 ,but the philosophy of it is beyond this thinker1 and he weakens his case by pointing to human rulers and arguing from the duty of subjects to abide by their decision and at least attribute to them the virtue of justice4 ,no doubt society must be held together by a head either hereditary or chosen by the people1 and1 so long as his rule is necessary to the well-being of the realm1 what he commands must be obeyed and what he does must be approved as if it were right4 ,but the writer either had an exceptionally favourable experience of kings1 as one1 let us suppose1 honoured like ,daniel in the ,babylonian exile1 or his faith in the ,divine right of princes blinded him to much injustice4 ,it is a mark of his defective logic that he rests his case for the perfect righteousness of ,god upon a sentiment or what may be called an accident4 ,and when ,elihu proceeds1 it is with some rambling sentences in which the suddenness of death1 the insecurity of human things1 and the trouble and distress coming now on whole nations now on workers of iniquity are all thrown together for the demonstration of ,divine justice4 ,we hear in these verses 7#bj to #bh7 the echoes of disaster and exile1 of the fall of thrones and empires4 ,because the afflicted tribes of ,judah were preserved in captivity and restored to their own land1 the history of the period which is before the writer's mind appears to him to supply a conclusive proof of the righteousness of the ,almighty4 ,but we fail to see it4 ,eliphaz and ,bildad might have spoken in the same terms as ,elihu uses here4 ,everything is assumed that ,job by force of circumstance has been compelled to doubt4 ,the whole is a homily on ,god's irresponsible power and penetrating wisdom which1 it is taken for granted1 must be exercised in righteousness4 ,where proof is needed nothing but assertion is offered4 ,it is easy to say that when a man is struck down in the open sight of others it is because he has been cruel to the poor and the ,almighty has been moved by the cry of the afflicted4 ,but here is ,job struck down in the open sight of others2 and is it for harshness to the poor8 ,if ,elihu does not mean that1 what does he mean8 ,the conclusion is the same as that reached by the three friends2 and this speaker poses1 like the rest1 as a generous man declaring that the iniquity ,god is always sure to punish is tyrannical treatment of the orphan and the widow4 ,leaving this unfortunate attempt at reasoning we enter at verse #ca on a passage in which the circumstances of ,job are directly dealt with4 ,for hath any one spoken thus unto ,god1 ',i have suffered though ,i offend not3 ,that which ,i see not teach ,thou2 ,if ,i have done iniquity ,i will do it no more'8 ,shall ,god's recompense be according to thy mind ,that thou dost reject it8 ,for thou must choose1 and not ,i3 ,therefore speak what thou knowest4 ,here the argument seems to be that a man like ,job1 assuming himself to be innocent1 if he bows down before the sovereign ,judge1 confesses ignorance1 and even goes so far as to acknowledge that he may have sinned unwittingly and promises amendment1 such a one has no right to dictate to ,god or to complain if suffering and trouble continue4 ,god may afflict as long as ,he pleases without showing why ,he afflicts4 ,and if the sufferer dares to complain he does so at his own peril4 ,elihu would not be the man to complain in such a case4 ,he would suffer on silently4 ,but the choice is for ,job to make2 and he has need to consider well before he comes to a decision4 ,elihu implies that as yet ,job is in the wrong mind1 and he closes this part of his address in a sort of brutal triumph over the sufferer because he had complained of his sufferings4 ,he puts the condemnation into the mouth of men of understanding2 but it is his own4 ,men of understanding will say to me1 ,and the wise who hears me will say3-- ,job speaks without intelligence1 ,and his words are without wisdom3 ,would that ,job were tried unto the end ,for his answers after the manner of wicked men4 ,for he addeth rebellion to his sin2 ,he clappeth his hands amongst us ,and multiplieth his words against ,god4 ,the ideas of ,elihu are few and fixed4 ,when his attempts to convince betray his weakness in argument1 he falls back on the vulgar expedient of brow-beating the defendant4 ,he is a type of many would-be interpreters of ,divine providence1 forcing a theory of religion which admirably fits those who reckon themselves favourites of heaven1 but does nothing for the many lives that are all along under a cloud of trouble and grief4 ,the religious creed which alone can satisfy is one throwing light adown the darkest ravines human beings have to thread1 in ignorance of ,god which they cannot help1 in pain of body and feebleness of mind not caused by their own sin but by the sins of others1 in slavery or something worse than slavery4 ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,divine ,,prerogative4 ,,chaps4 xxxv4-xxxvii4 ,after a long digression ,elihu returns to consider the statement ascribed to ,job1 ,it profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with ,god 7chap4 xxxiv4 #i74 ,this he laid hold of as meaning that the ,almighty is unjust1 and the accusation has been dealt with4 ,now he resumes the question of the profitableness of religion4 ,thinkest thou this to be in thy right1 ,and callest thou it ',my just cause before ,god1' ,that thou dost ask what advantage it is to thee1 ,and ',what profit have ,i more than if ,i had sinned'8 ,in one of his replies ,job1 speaking of the wicked1 represented them as saying1 ,what is the ,almighty that we should serve ,him8 and what profit should we have if we pray unto ,him8 7chap4 xxi4 #ae74 ,he added then1 ,the counsel of the wicked be far from me4 ,job is now declared to be of the same opinion as the wicked whom he condemned4 ,the man who again and again appealed to ,god from the judgment of his friends1 who found consolation in the thought that his witness was in heaven1 who1 when he was scorned1 sought ,god in tears and hoped against hope for ,his redemption1 is charged with holding faith and religion of no advantage4 ,is it in misapprehension or with design the charge is made8 ,job did indeed occasionally seem to deny the profit of religion1 but only when the false theology of his friends drove him to false judgment4 ,his real conviction was right4 ,once ,eliphaz pressed the same accusation and lost his way in trying to prove it4 ,elihu has no fresh evidence1 and he too falls into error4 ,he confounds the original charge against ,job with another1 and makes an offence of that which the whole scope of the poem and our sense of right completely justify4 ,look unto the heavens and see1 ,and regard the clouds which are higher than thou4 ,if thou sinnest1 what doest thou against ,him8 ,or if thy transgressions be multiplied1 what doest thou unto ,him8 ,if thou be righteous1 what givest thou ,him8 ,or what receiveth ,he at thy hands8 ,elihu is actually proving1 not that ,job expects too little from religion and finds no profit in it1 but that he expects too much4 ,anxious to convict1 he will show that man has no right to make his faith depend on ,god's care for his integrity4 ,the prologue showed the ,almighty pleased with ,his servant's faithfulness4 ,that1 says ,elihu1 is a mistake4 ,consider the clouds and the heavens which are far above the world4 ,thou canst not touch them1 affect them4 ,the sun and moon and stars shine with undiminished brightness however vile men may be4 ,the clouds come and go quite independently of the crimes of men4 ,god is above those clouds1 above that firmament4 ,neither can the evil hands of men reach ,his throne1 nor the righteousness of men enhance ,his glory4 ,it is precisely what we heard from the lips of ,eliphaz 7chap4 xxii4 #b-d71 an argument which abuses man for the sake of exalting ,god4 ,elihu has no thought of the spiritual relationship between man and his ,creator4 ,he advances with perfect composure as a hard dogma what ,job said in the bitterness of his soul4 ,if1 however1 the question must still be answered1 ,what good end is served by human virtue8 the reply is1-- ,thy wickedness may hurt a man as thou art2 ,and thy righteousness may profit a son of man4 ,god sustains the righteous and punishes the wicked1 not for the sake of righteousness itself but purely for the sake of men4 ,the law is that of expediency4 ,let not man dream of witnessing for ,god1 or upholding any eternal principle dear to ,god4 ,let him confine religious fidelity and aspiration to their true sphere1 the service of mankind4 ,regarding which doctrine we may simply say that1 if religion is profitable in this way only1 it may as well be frankly given up and the cult of happiness adopted for it everywhere4 ,but ,elihu is not true to his own dogma4 ,the next passage1 beginning with verse #i1 seems to be an indictment of those who in grievous trouble do not see and acknowledge the ,divine blessings which are the compensations of their lot4 ,many in the world are sorely oppressed4 ,elihu has heard their piteous cries4 ,but he has this charge against them1 that they do not realise what it is to be subjects of the heavenly ,king4 ,by reason of the multitude of oppressions men cry out1 ,they cry for help by reason of the arm of the mighty2 ,but none saith1 ,where is ,god my ,maker1 ,who giveth songs in the night1 ,who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth1 ,and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven8 ,there they cry because of the pride of evil men2 ,but none giveth answer4 ,these cries of the oppressed are complaints against pain1 natural outbursts of feeling1 like the moans of wounded animals4 ,but those who are cruelly wronged may turn to ,god and endeavour to realise their position as intelligent creatures of ,his who should feel after ,him and find ,him4 ,if they do so1 then hope will mingle with their sorrow and light arise on their darkness4 ,for in the deepest midnight ,god's presence cheers the soul and tunes the voice to songs of praise4 ,the intention is to show that when prayer seems of no avail and religion does not help1 it is because there is no real faith1 no right apprehension by men of their relation to ,god4 ,elihu1 however1 fails to see that if the righteousness of men is not important to ,god as righteousness1 much less will ,he be interested in their grievances4 ,the bond of union between the heavenly and the earthly is broken2 and it cannot be restored by showing that the grief of men touches ,god more than their sin4 ,job's distinction is that he clings to the ethical fellowship between a sincere man and his ,maker and to the claim and the hope involved in that relationship4 ,there we have the jewel in the lotus-flower of this book1 as in all true and noble literature4 ,elihu1 like the rest1 is far beneath ,job4 ,if he can be said to have a glimmering of the idea it is only that he may oppose it4 ,this moral affinity with ,god as the principle of human life remains the secret of the inspired author2 it lifts him above the finest minds of the ,gentile world4 ,the compiler of the ,elihu portion1 although he has the admirable sentiment that ,god giveth songs in the night1 has missed the great and elevating truth which fills with prophetic force the original poem4 ,from verse #ad onward to the close of the chapter the argument is turned directly against ,job1 but is so obscure that the meaning can only be conjectured4 ,surely ,god will not hear vanity1 ,neither will the ,almighty regard it4 ,if any one cries out against suffering as an animal in pain might cry1 that is vanity1 not merely emptiness but impiety1 and ,god will not hear nor regard such a cry4 ,elihu means that ,job's complaints were essentially of this nature4 ,true1 he had called on ,god2 that cannot be denied4 ,he had laid his case before the ,judge and professed to expect vindication4 ,but he was at fault in that very appeal1 for it was still of suffering he complained1 and he was still impious4 ,even when thou sayest that thou seest ,him not1 ,that thy cause is before ,him and thou waitest for ,him2 ,even then because ,his anger visiteth not1 ,and ,he doth not strictly regard transgression1 ,therefore doth ,job open his mouth in vanity1 ,he multiplied words without knowledge4 ,the argument seems to be3 ,god rules in absolute supremacy1 and ,his will is not to be questioned2 it may not be demanded of ,him that ,he do this or that4 ,what is a man that he should dare to state any righteous cause of his before ,god and claim justification8 ,let ,job understand that the ,almighty has been showing leniency1 holding back ,his hand4 ,he might kill any man outright and there would be no appeal nor ground of complaint4 ,it is because ,he does not strictly regard iniquity that ,job is still alive4 ,therefore appeals and hopes are offensive to ,god4 ,the insistence of this part of the book reaches a climax here and becomes repulsive4 ,elihu's opinions oscillate we may say between ,deism and ,positivism1 and on either side he is a special pleader4 ,it is by the mercy of the ,almighty all men live2 yet the reasoning of ,elihu makes mercy so remote and arbitrary that prayer becomes an impertinence4 ,no doubt there are some cries out of trouble which cannot find response4 ,but he ought to maintain1 on the other hand1 that if sincere prayer is addressed to ,god by one in sore affliction desiring to know wherein he has sinned and imploring deliverance1 that appeal shall be heard4 ,this1 however1 is denied4 ,for the purpose of convicting ,job ,elihu takes the singular position that though there is mercy with ,god man is neither to expect nor ask it1 that to make any claim upon ,divine grace is impious4 ,and there is no promise that suffering will bring spiritual gain4 ,god has a right to afflict ,his creatures1 and what ,he does is to be endured without a murmur because it is less than ,he has the right to appoint4 ,the doctrine is adamantine and at the same time rent asunder by the error which is common to all ,job's opponents4 ,the soul of a man resolutely faithful like ,job would turn away from it with righteous contempt and indignation4 ,the light which ,elihu professes to enjoy is a midnight of dogmatic darkness4 99 99 99 99 99 ,passing to chap4 xxxvi4 we are still among vague surmisings which appear the more inconsequent that the speaker makes a large claim of knowledge4 ,suffer me a little and ,i will show thee1 ,for ,i have somewhat yet to say on ,god's behalf4 ,i will fetch my knowledge from afar1 ,and will ascribe righteousness to my ,maker4 ,for truly my words are not false3 ,one that is perfect in knowledge is with thee4 ,elihu is zealous for the honour of that great ,being whom he adores because from ,him he has received life and light and power4 ,he is sure of what he says1 and proceeds with a firm step4 ,preparation thus made1 the vindication of ,god follows--a series of sayings which draw to something useful only when the doctrine becomes hopelessly inconsistent with what has already been laid down4 ,behold ,god is mighty and despiseth not any2 ,he is mighty in strength of understanding4 ,he preserveth not the life of the wicked1 ,but giveth right to the poor4 ,he withdraweth not ,his eyes from the righteous1 ,but1 with kings on the throne1 ,he setteth them up for ever1 and they are exalted4 ,and if they be bound in fetters1 ,if they be held in cords of affliction1 ,then ,he showeth them their work ,and their transgressions1 that they have acted proudly1 ,he openeth their ear to discipline ,and commandeth that they return from iniquity4 ,god despiseth not any--this appears to have something of the humane breadth hitherto wanting in the discourses of ,elihu4 ,he does not mean1 however1 that the ,almighty estimates every life without contempt1 counting the feeblest and most sinful as ,his creatures2 but that ,he passes over none in the administration of ,his justice4 ,illustrations of the doctrine as ,elihu intends it to be received are supplied in the couplet1 ,he preserveth not the life of the wicked1 but giveth right to the poor4 ,the poor are helped1 the wicked are given up to death4 ,as for the righteous1 two very different methods of dealing with them are described4 ,for ,elihu himself1 and others favoured with prosperity1 the law of the ,divine order has been1 ,with kings on the throne ,god setteth them up for ever4 ,a personal consciousness of merit leading to honourable rank in the state seems at variance with the hard dogma of the evil desert of all men4 ,but the rabbi has his own position to fortify4 ,the alternative1 however1 could not be kept out of sight1 since the misery of exile was a vivid recollection1 if not an actual experience1 with many reputable men who were bound in fetters and held by cords of affliction4 ,it is implied that1 though of good character1 these are not equal in righteousness to the favourites of kings4 ,some errors require correction2 and these men are cast into trouble1 that they may learn to renounce pride and turn from iniquity4 ,elihu preaches the benefits of chastening1 and in touching on pride he comes near the case of ,job4 ,but the argument is rude and indiscriminative4 ,to admit that a man is righteous and then speak of his transgressions and iniquity1 must mean that he is really far beneath his reputation or the estimate he has formed of himself4 ,it is difficult to see precisely what ,elihu considers the proper frame of mind which ,god will reward4 ,there must be humility1 obedience1 submission to discipline1 renunciation of past errors4 ,but we remember the doctrine that a man's righteousness cannot profit ,god1 can only profit his fellow-men4 ,does ,elihu1 then1 make submission to the powers that be almost the same thing as religion8 ,his reference to high position beside the throne is to a certain extent suggestive of this4 ,if they obey and serve ,god1 ,they shall spend their days in prosperity ,and their years in pleasures4 ,but if they obey not ,they shall perish by the sword1 ,and they shall die without knowledge4 ,elihu thinks over much of kings and exaltation beside them and of years of prosperity and pleasure1 and his own view of human character and merit follows the judgment of those who have honours to bestow and love the servile pliant mind4 ,in the dark hours of sorrow and pain1 says ,elihu1 men have the choice to begin life anew in lowly obedience or else to harden their hearts against the providence of ,god4 ,instruction has been offered1 and they must either embrace it or trample it under foot4 ,and passing to the case of ,job1 who1 it is plain1 is afflicted because he needs chastisement1 not having attained to ,elihu's perfectness in the art of life1 the speaker cautiously offers a promise and gives an emphatic warning4 ,he delivereth the afflicted by his affliction ,and openeth their ear in oppression4 ,yea1 ,he would allure thee out of the mouth of thy distress ,into a broad place where is no straitness2 ,and that which is set on thy table shall be full of fatness4 ,but if thou art full of the judgment of the wicked1 ,judgment and justice shall keep hold on thee4 ,for beware lest wrath lead thee away to mockery1 ,and let not the greatness of the ransom turn thee aside4 ,will thy riches suffice that are without stint8 ,or all the forces of thy strength8 ,choose not that night1 ,when the peoples are cut off in their place3 ,take heed thou turn not to iniquity1 ,for this thou hast chosen rather than affliction4 ,a side reference here shows that the original writer dealing with his hero has been replaced by another who does not realise the circumstances of ,job with the same dramatic skill4 ,his appeal is forcible1 however1 in its place4 ,there was danger that one long and grievously afflicted might be led away by wrath and turn to mockery or scornfulness1 so forfeiting the possibility of redemption4 ,job might also say in bitterness of soul that he had paid a great price to ,god in losing all his riches4 ,the warning has point1 although ,job never betrayed the least disposition to think the loss of property a ransom exacted of him by ,god4 ,elihu's suggestion to this effect is by no means evangelical2 it springs from a worldly conception of what is valuable to man and of great account with the ,almighty4 ,observe1 however1 the reminiscences of national disaster4 ,the picture of the night of a people's calamity had force for ,elihu's generation1 but here it is singularly inappropriate4 ,job's night had come to himself alone4 ,if his afflictions had been shared by others1 a different complexion would have been given to them4 ,the final thrust1 that the sufferer had chosen iniquity rather than profitable chastisement1 has no point whatsoever4 ,the section closes with a strophe 7vv4 #bb-be7 which1 calling for submission to the ,divine ordinance and praise of the doings of the ,almighty1 forms a transition to the main theme of the address4 99 99 99 99 99 ,chap4 xxxvi4 #bf--xxxvii4 #bd4 ,there need be little hesitation in regarding this passage as an ode supplied to the second writer or simply quoted by him for the purpose of giving strength to his argument4 ,scarcely a single note in the portion of ,elihu's address already considered approaches the poetical art of this4 ,the glory of ,god in ,his creation and ,his unsearchable wisdom are illustrated from the phenomena of the heavens without reference to the previous sections of the address4 ,one who was more a poet than a reasoner might indeed halt and stumble as the speaker has done up to this point and find liberty when he reached a theme congenial to his mind4 ,but there are points at which we seem to hear the voice of ,elihu interrupting the flow of the ode as no poet would check his muse4 ,at chap1 xxxvii4 #ad the sentence is interjected1 like an aside of the writer drawing attention to the words he is quoting1--,hearken unto this1 ,o ,job2 stand still and consider the wondrous works of ,god4 ,again 7vv4 #ai1 #bj71 between the description of the burnished mirror of the sky and that of the clearness after the sweeping wind1 without any reference to the train of thought1 the ejaculation is introduced1--,teach us what we shall say unto ,him1 for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness4 ,shall it be told ,him that ,i speak8 ,if a man speak surely he shall be swallowed up4 ,the final verses also seem to be in the manner of ,elihu4 ,but the ode as a whole1 though it has the fault of endeavouring to forestall what is put into the mouth of the ,almighty speaking from the storm1 is one of the fine passages of the book4 ,we pass from cold1 heavy and pretentious dogmatic discussions to free and striking pictures of nature1 with the feeling that one is guiding us who can present in eloquent language the fruits of his study of the works of ,god4 ,the descriptions have been noted for their felicity and power by such observers as ,baron ,humboldt and ,mr4 ,ruskin4 ,while the point of view is that invariably taken by ,hebrew writers1 the originality of the ode lies in fresh observation and record of atmospheric phenomena1 especially of the rain and snow1 rolling clouds1 thunderstorms and winds4 ,the pictures do not seem to belong to the ,arabian desert but to a fertile peopled region like ,aram or the ,chaldan plain4 ,upon the fields and dwellings of men1 not on wide expanses of barren sand1 the rains and snows fall1 and they seal up the hand of man4 ,the lightning clouds cover the face of the habitable world2 by them ,god judgeth the peoples4 ,in the opening verses the theme of the ode is set forth--the greatness of ,god1 the vast duration of ,his being1 transcending human knowledge4 ,behold ,god is great and we know ,him not1 ,the number of ,his years is unsearchable4 ,to estimate ,his majesty or fathom the depths of ,his eternal will is far beyond us who are creatures of a day4 ,yet we may have some vision of ,his power4 ,look up when rain is falling1 mark how the clouds that float above distil the drops of water and pour down great floods upon the earth4 ,mark also how the dark cloud spreading from the horizon obscures the blue expanse of the sky4 ,we cannot understand2 but we can realise to some extent the majesty of ,him whose is the light and the darkness1 who is heard in the thunder-peal and seen in the forked lightning4 ,can any understand the spreadings of the clouds1 ,the crashings of ,his pavilion8 ,behold ,he spreadeth ,his light about ,him2 ,and covereth it with the depths of the sea4 ,for by these judgeth ,he the peoples2 ,he giveth meat in abundance4 ,translating from the ,vulgate the two following verses1 ,mr4 ,ruskin gives the meaning1 ,he hath hidden the light in ,his hands and commanded it that it should return4 ,he speaks of it to ,his friend2 that it is ,his possession1 and that he may ascend thereto4 ,the rendering cannot be received1 yet the comment may be cited4 ,these rain-clouds are the robes of love of the ,angel of the ,sea4 ,to these that name is chiefly given1 the 'spreadings of the clouds1' from their extent1 their gentleness1 their fulness of rain4 ,and this is the meaning of those strange golden lights and purple flushes before the morning rain4 ,the rain is sent to judge and feed us2 but the light is the possession of the friends of ,god1 that they may ascend thereto1--where the tabernacle veil will cross and part its rays no more4#i ,the real import does not reach this spiritual height4 ,it is simply that the tremendous thunder brings to transgressors the terror of judgment1 and the copious showers that follow water the parched earth for the sake of man4 ,of the justice and grace of ,god we are made aware when ,his angel spreads his wings over the world4 ,in the darkened sky there is a crash as if the vast canopy of the firmament were torn asunder4 ,and now a keen flash lights the gloom for a moment2 anon it is swallowed up as if the inverted sea1 poured in cataracts upon the flame1 extinguished it4 ,men recognise the ,divine indignation1 and even the lower animals seem to be aware4 ,he covereth ,his hands with the lightning1 ,he giveth it a charge against the adversary4 ,its thunder telleth concerning ,him1 ,even the cattle concerning that which cometh up4 ,continued in the thirty-seventh chapter1 the description appears to be from what is actually going on1 a tremendous thunderstorm that shakes the earth4 ,the sound comes1 as it were1 out of the mouth of ,god1 reverberating from sky to earth and from earth to sky1 and rolling away under the whole heaven4 ,again there are lightnings1 and ,he stayeth them not when ,his voice is heard4 ,swift ministers of judgment and death they are darted upon the world4 ,we are asked to consider a fresh wonder1 that of the snow which at certain times replaces the gentle or copious rain4 ,the cold fierce showers of winter arrest the labour of man1 and even the wild beasts seek their dens and abide in their lurking-places4 ,the ,angel of the ,sea1 says ,mr4 ,ruskin1 has also another message1--in the 'great rain of ,his strength1' rain of trial1 sweeping away ill-set foundations4 ,then his robe is not spread softly over the whole heaven as a veil1 but sweeps back from his shoulders1 ponderous1 oblique1 terrible--leaving his sword-arm free4 ,god is still directly at work4 ,out of ,his chamber cometh the storm and cold out of the north4 ,his breath gives the frost and straitens the breadth of waters4 ,towards ,armenia1 perhaps1 the poet has seen the rivers and lakes frozen from bank to bank4 ,our science explains the result of diminished temperature2 we know under what conditions hoar-frost is deposited and how hail is formed4 ,yet all we can say is that thus and thus the forces act4 ,beyond that we remain like this writer1 awed in presence of a heavenly ,will which determines the course and appoints the marvels of nature4 ,by the breath of ,god ice is given1 ,and the breadth of the waters is straitened4 ,also ,he ladeth the thick cloud with moisture1 ,he spreadeth ,his lightning cloud abroad2 ,and it is turned about by ,his guidance1 ,that it may do whatsoever ,he commandeth ,upon the face of the whole earth4 ,here1 again1 moral purpose is found4 ,the poet attributes to others his own susceptibility4 ,men see and learn and tremble4 ,it is for correction1 that the careless may be brought to think of ,god's greatness1 and the evil-doers of ,his power1 that sinners being made afraid may turn from their rebellion4 ,or1 it is for ,his earth1 that rain may beautify it and fill the rivers and springs at which the beasts of the valley drink4 ,or1 yet again1 the purpose is mercy4 ,even the tremendous thunderstorm may be fraught with mercy to men4 ,from the burning heat1 oppressive1 intolerable1 the rains that follow bring deliverance4 ,men are fainting for thirst1 the fields are languishing4 ,in compassion ,god sends ,his great cloud on its mission of life4 ,more delicate1 needing finer observation1 are the next objects of study4 ,dost thou know how ,god layeth ,his charge on them1 ,and causeth the light of ,his cloud to shine8 ,dost thou know the balancings of the clouds1 ,the wondrous works of ,him who is perfect in knowledge8 ,it is not clear whether the light of the cloud means the lightning again or the varied hues which make an ,oriental sunset glorious in purple and gold4 ,but the balancings of the clouds must be that singular power which the atmosphere has of sustaining vast quantities of watery vapour--either miles above the earth's surface where the filmy cirrhus floats1 dazzling white against the blue sky1 or lower down where the rain-cloud trails along the hill-tops4 ,marvellous it is that1 suspended thus in the air1 immense volumes of water should be carried from the surface of the ocean to be discharged in fructifying rain4 ,then again3-- ,how are thy garments warm ,when the earth is still because of the south wind8 ,the sensation of dry hot clothing is said to be very notable in the season of the siroccos or south winds1 also the extraordinary stillness of nature under the same oppressive influence4 ,there is no living thing abroad to make a noise4 ,the air is too weak and languid to stir the pendant leaves even of the tall poplars4 ,finally the vast expanse of the sky1 like a looking-glass of burnished metal stretched far over sea and land1 symbolises the immensity of ,divine power4 ,canst thou with ,him spread out the sky ,which is strong as a molten mirror8444 ,and now men see not the light which is bright in the skies3 ,yet the wind passeth and cleanseth them4 ,it is always bright beyond4 ,clouds only hide the splendid sunshine for a time4 ,a wind rises and sweeps away the vapours from the glorious dome of heaven4 ,out of the north cometh golden splendour--for it is the north wind that drives on the clouds which1 as they fly southward1 are gilded by the rays of the sun4 ,but with ,god is a splendour greater far1 that of terrible majesty4 ,so the ode finishes abruptly1 and ,elihu states his own conclusion3-- ,the ,almighty6 we cannot find ,him out2 ,he is excellent in power1 ,and in judgment and plenteous justice2 ,he will not afflict4 ,men do therefore fear ,him2 ,he regardeth not any that are wise of heart4 ,is ,job wise in his own conceit8 ,does he think he can challenge the ,divine government and show how the affairs of the world might have been better ordered8 ,does he think that he is himself treated unjustly because loss and disease have been appointed to him8 ,right thoughts of ,god will check all such ignorant notions and bring him a penitent back to the throne of the ,eternal4 ,it is a good and wise deduction2 but ,elihu has not vindicated ,god by showing in harmony with the noblest and finest ideas of righteousness men have1 ,god supremely righteous1 and beyond the best and noblest mercy men love1 ,god transcendently merciful and gracious4 ,in effect his argument has been--,the ,almighty must be all-righteous1 and any one is impious who criticises life4 ,the whole question between ,job and the friends remains unsettled still4 ,elihu's failure is significant4 ,it is the failure of an attempt made1 as we have seen1 centuries after the ,book of ,job was written1 to bring it into the line of current religious opinion4 ,our examination of the whole reveals the narrow foundation on which ,hebrew orthodoxy was reared and explains the developments of a later time4 ,job may be said to have left no disciples in ,israel4 ,his brave personal hope and passionate desire for union with ,god seem to have been lost in the fervid national bigotry of post-exilic ages2 and while they faded1 the ,pharisee and ,sadducee of after days began to exist4 ,they are both here in germ4 ,springing from one seed1 they are alike in their ignorance of ,divine justice2 and we do not wonder that ,christ1 coming to fulfil and more than fulfil the hope of humanity1 appeared to both the ,pharisee and ,sadducee of ,his time as an enemy of religion1 of the country1 and of ,god4 ,,footnote3 #i ,modern ,painters1 vol4 v41 #ada4 ,,the ,,voice ,,from ,,the ,,storm4 ,,xxvii4 ,,music ,,in ,,the ,,bounds ,,of ,,law4 ,,chap4 xxxviii4 ,over the shadowed life of ,job1 and the world shadowed for him by his own intellectual and moral gloom1 a storm sweeps1 and from the storm issues a voice4 ,with the symbol of vast ,divine energy comes an answer to the problem of tried and troubled human life4 ,it has seemed1 as time went by1 that the appeals of the sufferer were unheard1 that the rigid silence of heaven would never break4 ,but had he not heard8 ,their line is gone out through all the earth1 and their words to the end of the world4 ,job should have known4 ,what is given will be a fresh presentation of ideas now to be seen in their strength and bearing because the mind is prepared and made eager4 ,the man1 brought to the edge of pessimism1 will at last look abroad and follow the doings of the ,almighty even through storm and darkness4 ,does the sublime voice issue only to overbear and reduce him to silence8 ,not so4 ,his reason is addressed1 his thought demanded1 his power to recognise truth is called for4 ,a great demonstration is made1 requiring at every step the response of mind and heart4 ,the ,creator reveals ,his care for the creation1 for the race of men1 for every kind of being and every need4 ,he declares ,his own glory1 of transcendent power1 of immeasurable wisdom1 also of righteous and holy will4 ,he can afflict men1 and yet do them no wrong but good1 for they are ,his men1 for whom ,he provides as they cannot provide for themselves4 ,trial1 sorrow1 change1 death--is anything disastrous that ,god ordains8 ,impossible4 ,his care of ,his creation is beyond our imagining4 ,there are no disasters in ,his universe unless where the will of man divorced from faith would tear a way for itself through the fastnesses of ,his eternal law4 ,eloah is known through the tempest as well as in the dewdrop and the tender blossom4 ,what is capable of strength must be made strong4 ,that is the ,divine law throughout all life1 for the cedar on ,lebanon1 the ox in the yoke1 the lion of the ,libyan desert4 ,chiefly the moral nature of man must find its strength4 ,the glory of ,god is to have sons who can endure4 ,the easy piety of a happy race1 living among flowers and offering incense for adoration1 cannot satisfy ,him of the eternal will1 the eternal power4 ,men must learn to trust1 to endure1 to hold themselves undismayed when the fury of tempest scours their world and heaps the driven snow above their dwellings and death comes cold and stark4 ,struggle man shall1 struggle on through strange and dreadful trials till he learn to live in the thought of ,divine ,will and ,love1 co-ordinate in one ,lord true to ,himself1 worthy to be trusted through all cloud and clash4 ,ever is ,he pursuing an end conformable to the nature of the beings ,he has created1 and1 with man an end conformable to his nature1 the possibilities of endless moral development1 the widening movements of increasing life4 ,let man know this and submit1 know this and rejoice4 ,a dream-life shall be impossible to man1 use his day as he will4 ,is this ,divine utterance from the storm required by the progress of the drama8 ,some have doubted whether its tenor is consistent with the previous line of thought2 yet the whole movement sets distinctly towards it1 could terminate in no other way4 ,the prologue1 affirming ,god's satisfaction with ,his servant1 left us assured that if ,job remained pure and kept his faith his name would not be blotted from the book of life4 ,he has kept his integrity2 no falsehood or baseness can be charged against him4 ,but is he still with ,god in sincere and humble faith8 ,we have heard him accuse the ,most ,high of cruel enmity4 ,at the close he lies under the suspicion of impious daring and revolt1 and it appears that he may have fallen from grace4 ,the author has created this uncertainty knowing well that the verdict of ,god ,himself is needed to make clear the spiritual position and fate of ,his servant4 ,besides this1 ,job's own suspense remains1 of more importance from a dramatic point of view4 ,he is not yet reconciled to providence4 ,those earnest cries for light1 which have gone forth passionately1 pathetically to heaven1 wait for an answer4 ,they must have some reply1 if the poet can frame a fit deliverance for the ,almighty4 ,the task is indeed severe4 ,on one side there is restraint1 for the original motive of the whole action and especially the approval of ,job by his ,divine ,master are not to be divulged4 ,the tried man must not enjoy vindication at the risk of losing humility1 his victory over his friends must not be too decisive for his own spiritual good1 nor out of keeping with the ordinary current of experience4 ,on the other side lies the difficulty of representing ,divine wisdom in contrast to that of man1 and of dealing with the hopes and claims of ,job1 for vindication1 for deliverance from ,sheol1 for the help of a ,redeemer1 either in the way of approving them or setting them definitely aside4 ,urged by a necessity of his own creating1 the author has to seek a solution1 and he finds one equally convincing and modest1 crowning his poem with a passage of marvellous brilliance1 aptness1 and power4 ,it has already been remarked that the limitations of genius and inspiration are distinctly visible here4 ,the bold prophetic hopes put into ,job's mouth were beyond the author's power to verify even to his own satisfaction4 ,he might himself believe in them1 ardently1 as flashes of heavenly foresight1 but he would not affirm them to be ,divine in their source because he could not give adequate proof4 ,the ideas were thrown out to live in human thought1 to find verification when ,god's time came4 ,hence1 in the speeches of the ,almighty1 the ground taken is that of natural religion1 the testimony of the wonderful system of things open to the observation of all4 ,is there a ,divine ,redeemer for the faithful whose lives have been overshadowed8 ,shall they be justified in some future state of being when their bodies have mouldered into dust8 ,the voice from on high does not affirm that this shall be2 the reverence of the poet does not allow so daring an assumption of the right to speak for ,god4 ,on the contrary1 the danger of meddling with things too high is emphasised in the very utterance which a man of less wisdom and humility would have filled with his own ideas4 ,nowhere is there a finer instance of self-denying moderation for the sake of absolute truth4 ,this writer stands among men as a humble student of the ways of ,god--is content to stand there at the last1 making no claim beyond the knowledge of what may be learned from the creation and providence of ,god4 ,and ,job is allowed no special providence4 ,the voice from the storm is that which all may hear2 it is the universal revelation suited to every man4 ,at first sight we are disposed to agree with those who think the appearance of the ,almighty upon the scene to be in itself strange4 ,but there is no ,theophany4 ,there is no revelation or message to suit a particular case1 to gratify one who thinks himself more important than his fellow-creatures1 or imagines the problem of his life abnormally difficult4 ,again the wisdom of the author goes hand in hand with his modesty2 what is within his compass he sees to be sufficient for his end4 ,to some the utterances put into the mouth of the ,almighty may seem to come far short of the occasion4 ,beginning to read the passage they may say3--,now we are to have the fruit of the poet's most strenuous thought1 the highest inspiration4 ,the ,almighty when ,he speaks in person will be made to reveal ,his gracious purposes with men and the wisdom of ,his government in those cases that have baffled the understanding of ,job and of all previous thinkers4 ,now we shall see a new light penetrating the thick darkness and confusion of human affairs4 ,since this is not done there may be disappointment4 ,but the author is concerned with religion4 ,his maxim is1 ,the fear of ,god that is wisdom1 and to depart from evil is understanding4 ,he has in his drama done much for human thought and theology4 ,the complications which had kept faith from resting in true spirituality on ,god have been removed4 ,the sufferer is a just man1 a good man whom ,god ,himself has pronounced to be perfect4 ,job is not afflicted because he has sinned4 ,the author has set in the clearest possible light all arguments he could find for the old notion that transgression and wickedness alone are followed by suffering in this world4 ,he has shown that this doctrine is not in accordance with fact1 and has made the proof so clear that a thoughtful person could never afterwards remember the name of ,job and hold that false view4 ,but apart from the prologue1 no explanation is given of the sufferings of the righteous in this life4 ,the author never says in so many words that ,job profited by his afflictions4 ,it might be that the righteous man1 tried by loss and pain1 was established in his faith for ever1 above all possibility of doubt4 ,but this is not affirmed4 ,it might be that men were purified by their sufferings1 that they found through the hot furnace a way into the noblest life4 ,but this is not brought forward as the ultimate explanation4 ,or it might be that the good man in affliction was the burden-bearer of others1 so that his travail and blood helped their spiritual life4 ,but there is no hint of this4 ,jehovah is to be vindicated4 ,he appears2 ,he speaks out of the storm1 and vindicates ,himself4 ,not1 however1 by showing the good ,his servant has gained in the discipline of bereavement1 loss1 and pain4 ,it is by claiming implicit trust from men1 by showing that their wisdom at its highest is foolishness to ,his1 and that ,his administration of the affairs of ,his world is in glorious faithfulness as well as power4 ,is it disappointing8 ,does the writer neglect the great question his drama has stirred8 ,or has he not1 with art far more subtle than we may at first suppose1 introduced into the experience of ,job a certain spiritual gain--thoughts and hopes that widen and clear the horizon of his life8 ,in the depth of despondency1 just because he has been driven from every earthly comfort and stay1 and can look only for miserable death1 ,job sees in prophetic vision a higher hope4 ,he asks1 ,if a man die1 shall he live again8 ,the question remains with him and seeks an answer in the intervals of suffering4 ,then at length he ventures on the presage of a future state of existence1 whether in the body or out of the body he cannot tell1 ,god knoweth1--,my ,redeemer liveth2 ,i shall see ,god for me4 ,this prevision1 this dawning of the light of immortality upon his soul is the gain that has entered into ,job's experience4 ,without the despondency1 the bitterness of bereavement1 the sense of decay1 and the pressure of cruel charges made against him1 these illuminating thoughts would never have come to the sufferer2 and along this line the author may have intended to justify the afflictions of the righteous man and quietly vindicate the dealings of ,god with him4 ,if further it be asked why this is not made prominent in the course of the ,almighty's address from the storm1 an answer may be found4 ,the hope did not remain clear1 inspiring1 in the consciousness of ,job4 ,the waves of sorrow and doubt rolled over his mind again4 ,it was but a flash1 and like lightning at midnight it passed and left the gloom once more4 ,only when by long reflection and patient thought ,job found himself reassured in the expectation of a future life1 would he know what trouble had done for him4 ,and it was not in keeping with the gradual development of religious faith that the ,almighty should forestall discovery by reviving the hope which for a time had faded4 ,we may take it that with rare skill the writer avoids insistence on the value of a vision which could appear charged with sustaining hope only after it was again apprehended1 first as a possibility1 then as a revelation1 finally as a sublime truth disentangled from doubt and error4 ,assuming this to have been in the author's mind1 we understand why the ,almighty speaking from the storm makes no reference to the gain of affliction4 ,there is a return upon the original motive of the drama1--the power of the ,creator to inspire1 the right of the ,creator to expect faith in ,himself1 whatever losses and trials men have to endure4 ,neither the integrity of man nor the claim of man upon ,god is first in the mind of the author1 but the majestic ,godhead that gathers to itself the adoration of the universe4 ,man is of importance because he glorifies his ,creator4 ,human righteousness is of narrow range4 ,it is not by his righteousness man is saved1 that is to say1 finds his true place1 the development of his nature and the end of his existence4 ,he is redeemed from vanity and evanescence by his faith1 because in exercising it1 clinging to it through profoundest darkness1 amidst thunder and storm1 when deep calleth to deep1 he enters into that wise and holy order of the universe which ,god has appointed1--he lives and finds more abundant life4 ,it is not denied that on the way toward perfect trust in his ,creator man is free to seek explanation of all that befalls him4 ,our philosophy is no impertinence4 ,thought must have liberty2 religion must be free4 ,the light of justice has been kindled within us that we may seek the answering light of the sublime justice of ,god in all ,his dealings with ourselves and with mankind4 ,this is clearly before the mind of the author1 and it is the underlying idea throughout the long colloquies between ,job and his friends4 ,they are allowed a freedom of thought and speech that sometimes astonishes1 for they are engaged in the great inquiry which is to bring clear and uplifting knowledge of the ,creator and ,his will4 ,for us it is a varied inquiry1 much of it to be conducted in pain and sorrow1 on the bare hillside or on the rough sea1 in the face of peril1 change and disappointment4 ,but if always the morale of life1 the fulfilment of life bestowed by ,god as man's trust and inestimable possession are kept in view1 freedom is ample1 and man1 doing his part1 need have no fear of incurring the anger of the ,divine ,judge3 the terrors of low religions have no place here4 ,but now ,job is given to understand that liberty has its limitation2 and the lesson is for many4 ,to one half of mankind1 allowing the mind to lie inert or expending it on vanities1 the word has come--,inquire what life is1 what its trials mean1 how the righteous government of ,god is to be traced4 ,now1 to the other half of mankind1 too adventurous in experiment and judgment1 the address of the ,almighty says3 ,be not too bold2 far beyond your range the activities of the ,creator pass3 it is not for you to understand the whole1 but always to be reverent1 always to trust4 ,the limits of knowledge are shown1 and1 beyond them1 the ,divine ,king stands in glory inaccessible1 proved true and wise and just1 claiming for ,himself the dutiful obedience and adoration of ,his creatures4 ,throughout the passage we now consider this is the strain of argument1 and the effect on ,job's mind is found in his final confession4 ,let man remember that his main business here is not to question but to glorify his ,creator4 ,for the time when this book was written the truth lay here2 and here it lies even for us1 and will lie for those who come after us4 ,in these days it is often forgotten4 ,science questions1 philosophy probes into the reasons of what has been and is1 men lose themselves in labyrinths at the far extremities of which they hope to find something which shall make life inexpressibly great or strong or sweet4 ,and even theology and criticism of the ,bible occasionally fall into the same error of fancying that to inquire and know are the main things1 that although inquiry and knowledge do not at every stage aid the service of the ,most ,high they may promote life4 ,the colloquies and controversies over1 ,job and his friends are recalled to their real duty1 which is to recognise the eternal majesty and grace of the ,unseen ,god1 to trust ,him and do ,his will4 ,and our experiments and questions over in every department of knowledge1 to this we ought to come4 ,nay1 every step in our quest of knowledge should be taken with the desire to find ,god more gloriously wise and faithful1 that our obedience may be more zealous1 our worship more profound4 ,there are only two states of thought or dominant methods possible when we enter on the study of the facts of nature and providence or any research that allures our reason4 ,we must go forward either in the faith of ,god or with the desire to establish ourselves in knowledge1 comfort and life apart from ,god4 ,if the second way is chosen1 light is turned into darkness1 all discoveries prove mere apples of ,sodom1 and the end is vanity4 ,but on the other line1 with life which is good to have1 with the consciousness of ability to think and will and act1 faith should begin1 faith in life and the ,maker of life2 and if every study is pursued in resolute faith1 man refusing to give existence itself the lie1 the mind seeking and finding new and larger reasons for trust and service of the ,creator1 the way will be that of salvation4 ,the faults and errors of one who follows this way will not enter into his soul to abide there and darken it4 ,they will be confessed and forgiven4 ,such is the philosophy of the ,book of ,job1 and the final vindication of ,his servant by the ,almighty4 ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,reconciliation4 ,,chaps4 xxxviii4 i-xlii4 #f4 ,the main argument of the address ascribed to the ,almighty is contained in chaps4 xxxviii4 and xxxix41 and in the opening verses of chap4 xlii4 ,job makes submission and owns his fault in doubting the faithfulness of ,divine providence4 ,the intervening passage containing descriptions of the great animals of the ,nile is scarcely in the same high strain of poetic art or on same high level of cogent reasoning4 ,it seems rather of a hyperbolical kind1 suggesting failure from the clear aim and inspiration of the previous portion4 ,the voice proceeding from the storm-cloud1 in which the ,almighty veils ,himself and yet makes ,his presence and majesty felt1 begins with a question of reproach and a demand that the intellect of ,job shall be roused to its full vigour in order to apprehend the ensuing argument4 ,the closing words of ,job had shown misconception of his position before ,god4 ,he spoke of presenting a claim to ,eloah and setting forth his integrity so that his plea would be unanswerable4 ,circumstances had brought upon him a stain from which he had a right to be cleared1 and1 implying this1 he challenged the ,divine government of the world as wanting in due exhibition of righteousness4 ,this being so1 ,job's rescue from doubt must begin with a conviction of error4 ,therefore the ,almighty says3-- ,who is this darkening counsel ,by words without knowledge8 ,gird up now thy loins like a man2 ,for ,i will demand of thee and answer thou ,me4 ,the aim of the author throughout the speech from the storm is to provide a way of reconciliation between man in affliction and perplexity and the providence of ,god that bewilders and threatens to crush him4 ,to effect this something more than a demonstration of the infinite power and wisdom of ,god is needed4 ,zophar affirming the glory of the ,almighty to be higher than heaven1 deeper than ,sheol1 longer than the earth1 broader than the sea1 basing on this a claim that ,god is unchangeably just1 supplies no principle of reconciliation4 ,in like manner ,bildad1 requiring the abasement of man as sinful and despicable in presence of the ,most ,high with whom are dominion and fear1 shows no way of hope and life4 ,but the series of questions now addressed to ,job forms an argument in a higher strain1 as cogent as could be reared on the basis of that manifestation of ,god which the natural world supplies4 ,the man is called to recognise not illimitable power only1 the eternal supremacy of the ,unseen ,king1 but also other qualities of the ,divine rule4 ,doubt of providence is rebuked by a wide induction from the phenomena of the heavens and of life upon the earth1 everywhere disclosing law and care co-operant to an end4 ,first ,job is asked to think of the creation of the world or visible universe4 ,it is a building firmly set on deep-laid foundations4 ,as if by line and measure it was brought into symmetrical form according to the archetypal plan2 and when the corner-stone was laid as of a new palace in the great dominion of ,god there was joy in heaven4 ,the angels of the morning broke into song1 the sons of the ,elohim1 high in the ethereal dwellings among the fountains of light and life1 shouted for joy4 ,in poetic vision the writer beholds that work of ,god and those rejoicing companies2 but to himself1 as to ,job1 the question comes--,what knows man of the marvellous creative effort which he sees in imagination8 ,it is beyond human range4 ,the plan and the method are equally incomprehensible4 ,of this let ,job be assured--that the work was not done in vain4 ,not for the creation of a world the history of which was to pass into confusion would the morning stars have sung together4 ,he who beheld all that ,he had made and declared it very good would not suffer triumphant evil to confound the promise and purpose of ,his toil4 ,next there is the great ocean flood1 once confined as in the womb of primval chaos1 which came forth in living power1 a giant from its birth4 ,what can ,job tell1 what can any man tell of that wonderful evolution1 when1 swathed in rolling clouds and thick darkness1 with vast energy the flood of waters rushed tumultuously to its appointed place8 ,there is a law of use and power for the ocean1 a limit also beyond which it cannot pass4 ,does man know how that is8--must he not acknowledge the wise will and benignant care of ,him who holds in check the stormy devastating sea8 ,and who has control of the light8 ,the morning dawns not by the will of man4 ,it takes hold of the margin of the earth over which the wicked have been ranging1 and as one shakes out the dust from a sheet1 it shakes them forth visible and ashamed4 ,under it the earth is changed1 every object made clear and sharp as figures on clay stamped with a seal4 ,the forests1 fields1 and rivers are seen like the embroidered or woven designs of a garment4 ,what is this light8 ,who sends it on the mission of moral discipline8 ,is not the great ,god who commands the dayspring to be trusted even in the darkness8 ,beneath the surface of earth is the grave and the dwelling-place of the nether gloom4 ,does ,job know1 does any man know1 what lies beyond the gates of death8 ,can any tell where the darkness has its central seat8 ,one there is whose is the night as well as the morning4 ,the mysteries of futurity1 the arcana of nature lie open to the ,eternal alone4 ,atmospheric phenomena1 already often described1 reveal variously the unsearchable wisdom and thoughtful rule of the ,most ,high4 ,the force that resides in the hail1 the rains that fall on the wilderness where no man is1 satisfying the waste and desolate ground and causing the tender grass to spring up1 these imply a breadth of gracious purpose that extends beyond the range of human life4 ,whose is the fatherhood of the rain1 the ice1 the hoar-frost of heaven8 ,man is subject to the changes these represent2 he cannot control them4 ,and far higher are the gleaming constellations that are set in the forehead of night4 ,have the hands of man gathered the ,pleiades and strung them like burning gems on a chain of fire8 ,can the power of man unloose ,orion and let the stars of that magnificent constellation wander through the sky8 ,the ,mazzaroth or ,zodiacal signs that mark the watches of the advancing year1 the ,bear and the stars of her train--who leads them forth8 ,the laws of heaven1 too1 those ordinances regulating the changes of temperature and the seasons1 does man appoint them8 ,is it he who brings the time when thunderstorms break up the drought and open the bottles of heaven1 or the time of heat when the dust gathers into a mass1 and the clods cleave fast together8 ,without this alternation of drought and moisture recurring by law from year to year the labour of man would be in vain4 ,is not ,he who governs the changing seasons to be trusted by the race that profits most of ,his care8 ,at verse #ci attention is turned from inanimate nature to the living creatures for which ,god provides4 ,with marvellous poetic skill they are painted in their need and strength1 in the urgency of their instincts1 timid or tameless or cruel4 ,the ,creator is seen rejoicing in them as ,his handiwork1 and man is held bound to exult in their life and see in the provision made for its fulfilment a guarantee of all that his own bodily nature and spiritual being may require4 ,notable especially to us is the close relation between this portion and certain sayings of our ,lord in which the same argument brings the same conclusion4 ,two passages of ,god's speaking1 says ,mr4 ,ruskin1 one in the ,old and one in the ,new ,testament1 possess1 it seems to me1 a different character from any of the rest1 having been uttered1 the one to effect the last necessary change in the mind of a man whose piety was in other respects perfect2 and the other as the first statement to all men of the principles of ,christianity by ,christ ,himself--,i mean the #chth to #dast chapters of the ,book of ,job and the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,now the first of these passages is from beginning to end nothing else than a direction of the mind which was to be perfected1 to humble observance of the works of ,god in nature4 ,and the other consists only in the inculcation of three things3 #ast1 right conduct2 #bnd1 looking for eternal life2 #crd1 trusting ,god through watchfulness of ,his dealings with ,his creation4#aj ,the last point is that which brings into closest parallelism the doctrine of ,christ and that of the author of ,job1 and the resemblance is not accidental1 but of such a nature as to show that both saw the underlying truth in the same way from the same point of spiritual and human interest4 ,wilt thou hunt the prey for the lioness8 ,or satisfy the appetite of the young lions4 ,when they couch in their dens ,and abide in the covert to lie in wait8 ,who provideth for the raven his food1 ,when his young ones cry unto ,god ,and wander for lack of meat8 ,thus man is called to recognise the care of ,god for creatures strong and weak1 and to assure himself that his life will not be forgotten4 ,and in ,his ,sermon on the ,mount our ,lord says1 ,behold the birds of the heaven1 that they sow not1 neither do they reap nor gather into barns2 and your heavenly ,father feedeth them4 ,are not ye of much more value than they8 ,the parallel passage in the ,gospel of ,luke approaches still more closely the language in ,job--,consider the ravens that they sow not neither reap4 ,the wild goats or goats of the rock and their young that soon become independent of the mothers' care2 the wild asses that make their dwelling-place in the salt land and scorn the tumult of the city2 the wild ox that cannot be tamed to go in the furrow or bring home the sheaves in harvest2 the ostrich that leaveth her eggs on the earth and warmeth them in the dust2 the horse in his might1 his neck clothed with the quivering mane1 mocking at fear1 smelling the battle afar off2 the hawk1 that soars into the blue sky2 the eagle that makes her nest on the rock1--all these1 graphically described1 speak to ,job of the innumerable forms of life1 simple1 daring1 strong and savage1 that are sustained by the power of the ,creator4 ,to think of them is to learn that1 as one among the dependants of ,god1 man has his part in the system of things1 his assurance that the needs ,god has ordained will be met4 ,the passage is poetically among the finest in ,hebrew literature1 and it is more4 ,in its place1 with the limit the writer has set for himself1 it is most apt as a basis of reconciliation and a new starting-point in thought for all like ,job who doubt the ,divine faithfulness4 ,why should man1 because he can think of the providence of ,god1 be alone suspicious of the justice and wisdom on which all creatures rely8 ,is not his power of thought given to him that he may pass beyond the animals and praise the ,divine ,provider on their behalf and his own8 ,man needs more than the raven1 the lion1 the mountain goat1 and the eagle4 ,he has higher instincts and cravings4 ,daily food for the body will not suffice him1 nor the liberty of the wilderness4 ,he would not be satisfied if1 like the hawk and eagle1 he could soar above the hills4 ,his desires for righteousness1 for truth1 for fulness of that spiritual life by which he is allied to ,god ,himself1 are his distinction4 ,so1 then1 ,he who has created the soul will bring it to perfectness4 ,where or how its longings shall be fulfilled may not be for man to know4 ,but he can trust ,god4 ,that is his privilege when knowledge fails4 ,let him lay aside all vain thoughts and ignorant doubts4 ,let him say3 ,god is inconceivably great1 unsearchably wise1 infinitely just and true2 ,i am in ,his hands1 and all is well4 ,the reasoning is from the less to the greater1 and is therefore in this case conclusive4 ,the lower animals exercise their instincts and find what is suited to their needs4 ,and shall it not be so with man8 ,shall he1 able to discern the signs of an all-embracing plan1 not confess and trust the sublime justice it reveals8 ,the slightness of human power is certainly contrasted with the omnipotence of ,god1 and the ignorance of man with the omniscience of ,god2 but always the ,divine faithfulness1 glowing behind1 shines through the veil of nature1 and it is this ,job is called to recognise4 ,has he almost doubted everything1 because from his own life outward to the verge of human existence wrong and falsehood seemed to reign8 ,but how1 then1 could the countless creatures depend upon ,god for the satisfaction of their desires and the fulfilment of their varied life8 ,order in nature means order in the scheme of the world as it affects humanity4 ,and order in the providence which controls human affairs must have for principle fairness1 justice1 so that every deed shall have due reward4 ,such is the ,divine law perceived by our inspired author through the things that are made4 ,the view of nature is still different from the scientific1 but there is certainly an approach to that reading of the universe praised by ,m4 ,renan as peculiarly ,hellenic1 which saw the ,divine in what is harmonious and evident4 ,not here at least does the taunt apply that1 from the point of view of the ,hebrew1 ignorance is a cult and curiosity a wicked attempt to explain1 that even in the presence of a mystery which assails and ruins him1 man attributes in a special manner the character of grandeur to that which is inexplicable1 that all phenomena whose cause is hidden1 all beings whose end cannot be perceived1 are to man a humiliation and a motive for glorifying ,god4 ,the philosophy of the final portion of ,job is of that kind which presses beyond secondary causes and finds the real ground of creaturely existence4 ,intellectual apprehension of the innumerable and far-reaching threads of ,divine purpose and the secrets of the ,divine will is not attempted4 ,but the moral nature of man is brought into touch with the glorious righteousness of ,god4 ,thus the reconciliation is revealed for which the whole poem has made preparation4 ,job has passed through the furnace of trial and the deep waters of doubt1 and at last the way is opened for him into a wealthy place4 ,till the ,son of ,god ,himself come to clear the mystery of suffering no larger reconciliation is possible4 ,accepting the inevitable boundaries of knowledge1 the mind may at length have peace4 ,and ,job finds the way of reconciliation4 ,i know that ,thou canst do all things1 ,and that no purpose of ,thine can be restrained4 ',who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge8' ,then have ,i uttered what ,i understood not1 ,things too wonderful for me1 which ,i knew not4 ',hear1 now1 and ,i will speak2 ,i will demand of ,thee1 and declare ,thou unto me4' ,i had heard of ,thee by the hearing of the ear2 ,but now mine eye seeth ,thee1 ,wherefore ,i repudiate my words and repent in dust and ashes4 ,all things ,god can do1 and where ,his purposes are declared there is the pledge of their accomplishment4 ,does man exist8--it must be for some end that will come about4 ,has ,god planted in the human mind spiritual desires8--they shall be satisfied4 ,job returns on the question that accused him--,who is this darkening counsel8 ,it was he himself who obscured counsel by ignorant words4 ,he had only heard of ,god then1 and walked in the vain belief of a traditional religion4 ,his efforts to do duty and to avert the ,divine anger by sacrifice had alike sprung from the imperfect knowledge of a dream-life that never reached beyond words to facts and things4 ,god was greater far than he had ever thought1 nearer than he had ever conceived4 ,his mind is filled with a sense of the ,eternal power1 and overwhelmed by proofs of wisdom to which the little problems of man's life can offer no difficulty4 ,now mine eye seeth ,thee4 ,the vision of ,god is to his soul like the dazzling light of day to one issuing from a cavern4 ,he is in a new world where every creature lives and moves in ,god4 ,he is under a government that appears new because now the grand comprehensiveness and minute care of ,divine providence are realised4 ,doubt of ,god and difficulty in acknowledging the justice of ,god are swept away by the magnificent demonstration of vigour1 spirit and sympathy1 which ,job had as yet failed to connect with the ,divine ,life4 ,faith therefore finds freedom1 and its liberty is reconciliation1 redemption4 ,he cannot indeed behold ,god face to face and hear the judgment of acquittal for which he had longed and cried4 ,of this1 however1 he does not now feel the need4 ,rescued from the uncertainty in which he had been involved--all that was beautiful and good appearing to quiver like a mirage--he feels life again to have its place and use in the ,divine order4 ,it is the fulfilment of ,job's great hope1 so far as it can be fulfilled in this world4 ,the question of his integrity is not formally decided4 ,but a larger question is answered1 and the answer satisfies meantime the personal desire4 ,job makes no confession of sin4 ,his friends and ,elihu1 all of whom endeavour to find evil in his life1 are entirely at fault4 ,the repentance is not from moral guilt1 but from the hasty and venturous speech that escaped him in the time of trial4 ,after all one's defence of ,job one must allow that he does not at every point avoid the appearance of evil4 ,there was need that he should repent and find new life in new humility4 ,the discovery he has made does not degrade a man4 ,job sees ,god as great and true and faithful as he had believed ,him to be1 yea1 greater and more faithful by far4 ,he sees himself a creature of this great ,god and is exalted1 an ignorant creature and is reproved4 ,the larger horizon which he demanded having opened to him1 he finds himself much less than he had seemed4 ,in the microcosm of his past dream-life and narrow religion he appeared great1 perfect1 worthy of all he enjoyed at the hand of ,god2 but now1 in the macrocosm1 he is small1 unwise1 weak4 ,god and the soul stand sure as before2 but ,god's justice to the soul ,he has made is viewed along a different line4 ,not as a mighty sheik can ,job now debate with the ,almighty he has invoked4 ,the vast ranges of being are unfolded1 and among the subjects of the ,creator he is one1--bound to praise the ,almighty for existence and all it means4 ,his new birth is finding himself little1 yet cared for in ,god's great universe4 ,the writer is no doubt struggling with an idea he cannot fully express2 and in fact he gives no more than the pictorial outline of it4 ,but without attributing sin to ,job he points1 in the confession of ignorance1 to the germ of a doctrine of sin4 ,man1 even when upright1 must be stung to dissatisfaction1 to a sense of imperfection--to realise his fall as a new birth in spiritual evolution4 ,the moral ideal is indicated1 the boundlessness of duty and the need for an awakening of man to his place in the universe4 ,the dream-life now appears a clouded partial existence1 a period of lost opportunities and barren vain-glory4 ,now opens the greater life in the light of ,god4 ,and at the last the challenge of the ,almighty to ,satan with which the poem began stands justified4 ,the ,adversary cannot say1--,the hedge set around ,thy servant broken down1 his flesh afflicted1 now he has cursed ,thee to ,thy face4 ,out of the trial ,job comes1 still on ,god's side1 more on ,god's side than ever1 with a nobler faith more strongly founded on the rock of truth4 ,it is1 we may say1 a prophetic parable of the great test to which religion is exposed in the world1 its difficulties and dangers and final triumph4 ,to confine the reference to ,israel is to miss the grand scope of the poem4 ,at the last1 as at the first1 we are beyond ,israel1 out in a universal problem of man's nature and experience4 ,by his wonderful gift of inspiration1 painting the sufferings and the victory of ,job1 the author is a herald of the great advent4 ,he is one of those who prepared the way not for a ,jewish ,messiah1 the redeemer of a small people1 but for the ,christ of ,god1 the ,son of ,man1 the ,saviour of the world4 ,a universal problem1 that is1 a question of every human age1 has been presented and within limits brought to a solution4 ,but it is not the supreme question of man's life4 ,beneath the doubts and fears with which this drama has dealt lie darker and more stormy elements4 ,the vast controversy in which every human soul has a share oversweeps the land of ,uz and the trial of ,job4 ,from his life the conscience of sin is excluded4 ,the author exhibits a soul tried by outward circumstances2 he does not make his hero share the thoughts or judgment of the evil-doer4 ,job represents the believer in the furnace of providential pain and loss4 ,he is neither a sinner nor a sin-bearer4 ,yet the book leads on with no faltering movement toward the great drama in which every problem of religion centres4 ,christ's life1 character1 work cover the whole region of spiritual faith and struggle1 of conflict and reconciliation1 of temptation and victory1 sin and salvation2 and while the problem is exhaustively wrought out the ,reconciler stands divinely free of all entanglement4 ,he is light1 and in ,him is no darkness at all4 ,job's honest life emerges at last1 from a narrow range of trial into personal reconciliation and redemption through the grace of ,god4 ,christ's pure heavenly life goes forward in the ,spirit through the full range of spiritual trial1 bearing every need of erring man1 confirming every wistful hope of the race1 yet revealing with startling force man's immemorial quarrel with the light1 and convicting him in the hour that it saves him4 ,thus for the ancient inspired drama there is set1 in the course of evolution1 another1 far surpassing it1 the ,divine tragedy of the universe1 involving the spiritual omnipotence of ,god4 ,christ has to overcome not only doubt and fear1 but the devastating godlessness of man1 the strange sad enmity of the carnal mind4 ,his triumph in the sacrifice of the cross leads religion forth beyond all difficulties and dangers into eternal purity and calm4 ,that is--through ,him the soul of believing man is reconciled by a transcendent spiritual law to nature and providence1 and his spirit consecrated for ever to the holiness of the ,eternal4 ,the doctrine of the sovereignty of ,god1 as set forth in the drama of ,job with freshness and power by one of the masters of theology1 by no means covers the whole ground of ,divine action4 ,the righteous man is called and enabled to trust the righteousness of ,god2 the good man is brought to confide in that ,divine goodness which is the source of his own4 ,but the evil-doer remains unconstrained by grace1 unmoved by sacrifice4 ,we have learned a broader theology1 a more strenuous yet a more gracious doctrine of the ,divine sovereignty4 ,the induction by which we arrive at the law is wider than nature1 wider than the providence that reveals infinite wisdom1 universal equity and care4 ,rightly did a great ,puritan theologian take his stand on the conviction of ,god as the one power in heaven and earth and hell2 rightly did he hold to the idea of ,divine will as the one sustaining energy of all energies4 ,but he failed just where the author of ,job failed long before3 he did not fully see the correlative principle of sovereign grace4 ,the revelation of ,god in ,christ1 our ,sacrifice and ,redeemer1 vindicates with respect to the sinful as well as the obedient the ,divine act of creation4 ,it shows the ,maker assuming responsibility for the fallen1 seeking and saving the lost2 it shows one magnificent sweep of evolution which starts from the manifestation of ,god in creation and returns through ,christ to the ,father1 laden with the manifold immortal gains of creative and redeeming power4 ,,footnote3 #aj ,modern ,painters1 vol4 iii41 p4 #cjg4 ,,epilogue4 ,,xxix4 ,,epilogue4 ,,chap4 xlii4 #g-ag4 ,after the argument of the ,divine voice from the storm the epilogue is a surprise1 and many have doubted whether it is in line with the rest of the work4 ,did ,job need these multitudes of camels and sheep to supplement his new faith and his reconciliation to the ,almighty will8 ,is there not something incongruous in the large award of temporal good1 and even something unnecessary in the renewed honour among men8 ,to us it seems that a good man will be satisfied with the favour and fellowship of a loving ,god4 ,yet1 assuming that the conclusion is a part of the history on which the poem was founded1 we can justify the blaze of splendour that bursts on ,job after sorrow1 instruction and reconciliation4 ,life only can reward life4 ,that great principle was rudely shadowed forth in the old belief that ,god protects ,his servants even to a green old age4 ,the poet of our book clearly apprehended the principle2 it inspired his noblest flights4 ,up to the closing moment ,job has lived strongly1 alike in the mundane and the moral region4 ,how is he to find continued life8 ,the author's power could not pass the limits of the natural in order to promise a reward4 ,not yet was it possible1 even for a great thinker1 to affirm that continued fellowship with ,eloah1 that continued intellectual and spiritual energy which we name eternal life4 ,a vision of it had come to him2 he had seen the day of the ,lord afar off1 but dimly1 by moments4 ,to carry a life into it was beyond his power4 ,sheol made nothing perfect2 and beyond ,sheol no prophet eye had ever travelled4 ,there was nothing for it1 then1 but to use the history as it stood1 adding symbolic touches1 and show the restored life in development on earth1 more powerful than ever1 more esteemed1 more richly endowed for good action4 ,in one point the symbolism is very significant4 ,priestly office and power are given to ,job2 his sacrifice and intercession mediate between the friends who traduced him and ,eloah who hears ,his faithful servant's prayer4 ,the epilogue1 as a parable of the reward of faithfulness1 has deep and abiding truth4 ,wider opportunity of service1 more cordial esteem and affection1 the highest office that man can bear1 these are the reward of ,job2 and with the terms of the symbolism we shall not quarrel who have heard the ,lord say3 ,well done1 thou good servant1 because thou wast found faithful in a very little1 have thou authority over ten cities6 ,another indication of purpose must not be overlooked4 ,it may be said that ,job's renewal in soul should have been enough for him1 that he might have spent humbly what remained of life1 at peace with men1 in submission to ,god4 ,but our author was animated by the ,hebrew realism1 that healthy belief in life as the gift of ,god1 which kept him always clear on the one hand of ,greek fatalism1 on the other of ,oriental asceticism4 ,this strong faith in life might well lead him into the details of sons and daughters1 grandchildren and great-grandchildren1 flocks1 tribute1 and years of honour4 ,nor did he care at the end though any one said that after all the ,adversary was right4 ,he had to show expanding life as ,gods recompense of faithfulness4 ,satan has long ago disappeared from the drama2 and in any case the epilogue is chiefly a parable4 ,it is1 however1 a parable involving1 as our ,lord's parables always involve1 the sound view of man's existence1 neither that of ,prometheus on the rock nor of the grim anchorite in the ,egyptian cave4 ,the writer's finest things came to him by flashes4 ,when he reached the close of his book he was not able to make a tragedy and leave his readers rapt above the world4 ,no pre-,christian thinker could have bound together the gleams of truth in a vision of the spirit's undying nature and immortal youth4 ,but ,job must find restored power and energy2 and the close had to come1 as it does1 in the time sphere4 ,we can bear to see a soul go forth naked1 driven1 tormented2 we can bear to see the great good life pass from the scaffold or the fire1 because we see ,god meeting it in the heaven4 ,but we have seen ,christ4 ,a third point is that for dramatic completeness the action had to bring ,job to full acquittal in view of his friends4 ,nothing less will satisfy the sense of poetic justice which rules the whole work4 ,finally1 a biographical reminiscence may have given colour to the epilogue4 ,if1 as we have supposed1 the author was once a man of substance and power in ,israel1 and1 reduced to poverty in the time of the ,assyrian conquest1 found himself an exile in ,arabia--the wistful sense of impotence in the world must have touched all his thinking4 ,perhaps he could not expect for himself renewed power and place2 perhaps he had regretfully to confess a want of faithfulness in his own past4 ,all the more might he incline to bring his great work to a close with a testimony to the worth and design of the earthly gifts of ,god1 the temporal life which ,he appoints to man1 that present discipline most graciously adapted to our present powers and yet full of preparation for a higher evolution1 the life not seen1 eternal in the heavens4 ,,index ,abraham faith of1 #bg4 ,accadian psalms1 #c4 ,acquittal1 ,job expects1 #bhe4 ,agnostic1 #aag4 ,amiel quoted1 #hh1 #bhh4 ,amos1 chap4 iv4 #d1 #dd4 ,angel-interpreter1 #cea4 ,argument1 the reconciling1 #cib4 ,arnold1 ,matthew1 quoted1 #ie4 ,assize1 the ,great1 #bib4 ,astrology1 neglected1 #cag4 ,author1 his greatness1 #f2 lives in the poem1 #g2 member of ,northern ,kingdom1 #ae2 in the desert1 #ag2 inspiration of1 #cb2 paints his own trials1 #fh2 his brave truthfulness1 #bbd2 his prophetic insight1 #cjc4 ,bene-,kedem1 #bc4 ,bible1 universality of1 #ag4 ,bigot1 the1 #bdd4 ,bildad1 character of1 #ajb2 his first speech1 #ace2 his second speech1 #bae2 his bitterness1 #baf2 his third speech1 #bih4 ,boethius quoted1 #bhh4 ,book of ,job1 a poem of the soul1 #c2 precursors of1 #c2 poetical art of1 #e2 date of1 #f2 autobiographical1 #g1 #daa2 style of1 #h2 problem of1 #aa2 personality in1 #ab2 place in canon1 #bg2 main controversy of1 #aja2 inspiration of1 #abb2 logic of1 #bie2 prepares for ,christ1 #bfe1 #djd4 ,bunyan quoted1 #add4 ,bushnell1 ,h41 quoted1 #bei4 ,carlyle1 ,t41 quoted1 #fh1 #bbc4 ,catholic theologian1 #ace4 ,chaldans1 #fe4 ,chaos1 no moral1 #bgc4 ,christ1 sacrifice of1 #fb2 mediation of1 #aba2 his preaching1 #bgf2 ,redeemer1 #bdb1 #djd2 preparation for1 #bfe4 ,church1 the ,jewish1 #ad4 ,church1 complaints against1 #bfd2 its duty1 #bie4 ,cliff in the desert1 #bca4 ,consolation1 #hj4 ,corporate sympathy1 #bcj4 ,creed of ,job's friends1 #aee4 ,criticism of first author1 #cdf4 ,dante1 #fj4 ,davidson1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,b41 #aa1 #if1 #caa1 #ccc4 ,davidson1 ,dr4 ,s41 #f4 ,death1 finality of1 #ahg4 ,deism and positivism1 #cfe4 ,delay of the ,almighty1 #bfi4 ,dogmatism1 #acf4 ,doughty1 ,mr4 ,c4 ,m41 #bj4 ,dualism1 #aff4 ,duty1 keep close to1 #hh4 ,edwards1 ,jonathan1 quoted1 #bgd4 ,egyptian ,book of the ,dead1 #bab4 ,elihu1 who was he8 #cdc2 inspiration claimed by1 #cdb4 ,eliphaz1 character of1 #ajb2 his first speech1 #ii2 vision of1 #ajf2 apparently right1 #aac2 his religion1 #aad2 his second speech1 #ahg2 a pure ,temanite1 #ahi2 jealous for ,god1 #aia2 his third speech1 #bfi4 ,eloah1 the righteous1 #bcb2 and the work of ,his hands1 #bcc2 opening ,sheol1 #bcc4 ,emerson1 ,r4 ,w41 quoted1 #beg4 ,eschatology1 rose-water1 #ee4 ,everlasting ,yea1 #fg4 ,evolution1 spiritual1 #eh2 of religion1 #ahj2 physical1 completes nothing1 #bda2 reveals ,divine wisdom1 #cah4 ,ewald1 ,h41 #aa1 #ae4 ,failure of old world1 #bhj4 ,fairbairn1 ,dr4 ,a4 ,m41 #eg4 ,faith1 and happiness1 #de2 three barriers of1 #bce4 ,false judgments1 #hf4 ,fate of the wicked1 #bai4 ,festus quoted1 #bij4 ,finality and progress1 #aic4 ,funeral in the desert1 #bfd4 ,god1 no despot1 #adi2 seems to persecute1 #agf1 #bjd2 and nature1 #cja4 ,godliness1 earthly reward of1 #bde4 ,gol1 the1 #bcd4 ,happiness and faith1 #de4 ,hauran1 #bj4 ,hebrew thought1 limitations of1 #afd2 realism1 #daj4 ,hokhma1 #i1 #af4 ,human frailty1 #agg4 ,idealism1 #fe1 #gi4 ,idolatry1 #ccc4 ,iduma1 religion of1 #be4 ,individualism of psalms1 #ac4 ,inherited opinions1 #afi4 ,inquiry and reverence1 #chi4 ,inspiration1 of author1 #cb1 #cc2 within limits1 #bbd1 #chd1 #chg2 claimed by ,elihu1 #cdb4 ,irresistible power1 #ada4 ,isaiah compared with ,job1 #aj4 ,jauf1 #bj4 ,jehovah1 servant of1 #ae4 ,jewel in the lotus1 #cfd4 ,jewish ,church1 #ad4 ,job1 a real man1 #bb2 religion of1 #bd2 character of1 #bh2 early prosperity of1 #bi2 dream-life of1 #cj2 when he lived1 #ca2 trials of1 #fc2 type of righteous sufferer1 #fg2 his integrity1 #gb2 his faith1 #gd2 his wife1 #ge2 his friends1 #gh2 curses his day1 #hi2 praises death1 #ib2 rebuked for scepticism1 #aed2 prophetic1 #bjh2 idealised1 #ccg2 made priest1 #daj4 ,justice1 of man no refuge1 #hf2 in every matter1 #bcg2 physical argument for1 #bch4 ,kings1 their favour1 #ceg1 #cfi4 ,kinship with ,eloah1 #aha4 ,knowledge not the main thing1 #cij4 ,koheleth1 #ch4 ,letters and theology1 #d4 ,life1 is it for enjoyment8 #eb2 meaning of1 in the ,gospels1 #fa2 as vigour1 #bfj2 principle of man's1 #chb2 rewards life1 #dji4 ,materialism1 #ed4 ,mediator1 desire for a1 #adg4 ,mephistopheles1 #cf4 ,mezbele1 #gb4 ,microcosm and macrocosm1 #djb4 ,mill1 ,j4 ,s41 quoted1 #bef4 ,mining1 #cad4 ,modern science1 #afe4 ,natural religion1 #be2 source of1 #agh2 ends with a sigh1 #bij4 ,nature and ,god1 #aff1 #bhg1 #cja4 ,necessity1 #acj4 ,obedience1 reward of1 #db4 ,ode cited by ,elihu1 #cgj4 ,oriental1 society1 ideas of1 #ej2 life1 contrasts of1 #gb2 character1 #aca4 ,orthodoxy uncorrupted1 #aig4 ,pain1 not evil1 #eb-e2 and imprudence1 #ei2 mystery of1 #abj4 ,paley quoted1 #ec4 ,palgrave1 ,w4 ,g41 quoted1 #bj4 ,personality1 #ab4 ,pessimism1 #ch4 ,pharisee and ,sadducee1 germs of1 #cgg4 ,phnix1 #cbd4 ,piety1 daring1 #acc4 ,pity of it1 the1 #bbi4 ,positive evil1 #gg4 ,poverty of spirit1 #aif4 ,precursors of ,job1 #c4 ,primitive religion of ,semites1 #ahj4 ,probation1 #dg4 ,problem1 of the book1 #aa2 universal1 #djc4 ,prophet1 the1 a critic1 #bdf4 ,proverbs1 chaps4 iii41 viii41 #i4 ,providence1 enigma of1 #bjg2 special1 #bbe4 ,psalms1 individualism in1 #ab4 ,punishment of sin1 #ei4 ,rabbi1 the1 #cfh4 ,real and ideal1 #aeb4 ,religion1 decay of1 #af2 evolution of1 #ahj4 ,renan quoted1 #cii4 ,revelation1 #aag4 ,righteousness1 man not saved by1 #chh4 ,ruskin1 ,j41 quoted1 #cgb1 #cgd1 #cif4 ,sabeans1 #fe4 ,sacrifice of ,christ1 #fb4 ,sacrificed classes1 #agj4 ,satan1 #cd2 ,dante's1 #ce2 ,milton's1 #ce2 power of1 #cf2 challenged by the ,almighty1 #dj2 his question1 #db2 disappears1 #ga4 ,scepticism1 #da1 #adj4 ,schopenhauer1 #cg1 #ci4 ,semites1 primitive religion of1 #ahj4 ,servant of ,jehovah1 #ae4 ,sheol1 life in1 #ahc2 no hope in1 #baa2 no penalty in1 #bee4 ,sin1 punishment of1 #ei2 does it bring suffering8 #aeg4 ,sincerity of mind1 #afi4 ,skin for skin1 #fi4 ,smith1 ,dr4 ,robertson1 #dc4 ,social1 meliorism1 #df2 tyranny1 #cca4 ,sons of the ,elohim1 #cg4 ,soulless human beings1 #gj4 ,special pleading for ,god1 #aga4 ,spencer1 ,h41 #eb4 ,spiritual evolution1 #eh4 ,suicide1 #ig1 #abd4 ,teman1 #ae4 ,theology and letters1 #d2 new beginning in1 #ae4 ,theosophy1 #ci4 ,total depravity1 #aie4 ,trouble1 wherefore8 #bhb4 ,universal problem1 #djc4 ,uz1 #ai4 ,wisdom1 of the past1 #ach1 #aib2 quest of1 #cac4 ,woman's life1 #ge4 ,worldly prosperity offered to ,job1 #acg1 #aei4 ,zophar1 his character1 #ajb2 his first speech1 #aed2 no mere echo1 #afa2 his second speech1 #bdc2 his third speech1 #cji4 ,transciber's ,notes3 ,obvious punctuation and spelling errors have been fixed throughout4 ,inconsistent hyphenation is as in the original text4